Exceedingly Mundane

Well, I didn’t really have a set menu last week, and it sort of bugs me. I still cook a lot, but with the busy holiday season, we are eating out more, and eating worse. Lots of junk food, sweets, etc. Ugh. My waistline is ready for the new year! 🙂

I’ve got a general idea for the week. The middle days are not set, but I have ideas for each day, if that makes sense! Be sure to check out Laura’s blog over at OrgJunkie for lots more menu ideas and even recipes!

Monday – Grilled Chicken (Tim) / Grilled Salmon (Stacy), rice, peas or butterbeans

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.… not sure which one which day:

Spaghetti & Meatballs, broccoli
Panko Chicken Strips, Mac n Cheese, green beans
Waffles & Turkey Bacon

Friday – probably eat out; Date Night

Saturday – lunch will be PapaJohn’s pizza ordered in, while we watch our alma mater play in the Papa John’s Bowl (USM) on ESPN

Have a great week, everyone!

I’ve been jumping up and down for the last couple of hours 😀 Wanna know why? You can go read the entry entitled “the best bad dream I ever had” over at Dawn’s blog (“Thoughts from Along the Broken Road”). Or I could just tell you!

Dawn won big at the prize-giving search site called Blingo. It’s just like Google, but they give away prizes every day to their members. I signed up way back in 2005 and won several nice little “small” prizes. I won some iTunes gift cards and some movie tickets. Tim signed up also, under my id, and so if he won, I won also. That’s the way the Blingo system works. If you win, then your “friend” wins (whoever you signed up under). WELL. Unbeknownst to me, my dear blogging friend Dawn had signed up under my id. So, if she wins, then I win. Are you starting to figure it out now? Dawn won their biggest prize last night – she had a 1 in 350,000 chance of winning her choice of a Dell Computer with 22″ monitor, or $750 in cash. She had a bad dream last night and got up to do some blog reading and surfing. Lucky for me! She used Blingo to search, and she won. And since she had signed up under my id, and she was signed into the Blingo system, I won too! I’m still in total shock. Well, except for the jumping up and down and random squealing that I do every few minutes. It’s starting to bug Tim, I think! I got my choice too, and I also chose the cash. Such an awesome thing to win, right here at Christmas.

So – many thanks to my dear blogging buddy down in Florida – Miss Dawn! Thank you so much Dawn, for searching Blingo in the middle of the night, and for winning us both such an awesome thing right here at Christmas!

Oh, and if you haven’t signed up for Blingo, click this button and sign up under me. Maybe we could both win something sometime 😀

This week’s topic: Catalog

Do you use any of the online book-cataloguing sites, like Library Thing or Shelfari? Why or why not? (Or . . . do you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking to?? (grin))

If not an online catalog, do you use any other method to catalog your book collection? Excel spreadsheets, index cards, a notebook, anything?
Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

I haven’t played in the last couple of weeks, but this week’s question is right up my alley. I actually looked at this and agonized over this very subject for a long time. I catalogued our DVD collection a while back, but I used some free software that I downloaded and did it all on my local PC. I was considering doing the same with my books. I know several bloggers who use both LibraryThing and Shelfari, and was having a really hard time deciding whether to try one of those or do it locally on my hard drive. That solution was provided by a dear friend who gifted me with a one year subscription to LibraryThing. I set it all up and entered all of my books, and I love it! I have been keeping it up to date and plan to continue my subscription next year. I love that they have a widget that I can use on the side of my blog to show random books from my library. I love how easy it is to use – simply enter the ISBN number from the back of the book and bam, it’s added to your library. The only downfall that I’ve found so far is that it is online – I don’t have this info in my PDA to have with me. I have to rely on my memory (oh, the horror!) to remember if I already own a book when I’m browsing in a bookstore. Thankfully, I do the majority of my book purchasing online, so I can easily flip over to LibraryThing to see what I have by that author, in that series, etc. I really like LibraryThing. Great question!

Today’s Christmas-themed “Question of the Day” is about nativities. Do you have one that you put out every year? Or more than one? Is it a small one indoors, or a large one outdoors? Does it have any special meaning or memories for you?

The reason I ask this question is because I do have a small nativity that I love and put out every year. My mother-in-law has wanted to visit the Holy Land her entire life, and she did go (prior to 9-11) when Tim and I were first married. She got each of us an olive wood Nativity in Bethlehem. It is all hand-carved and it’s just so special to us because she bought it for us in the Holy Land. I had never had a nativity before, and I love this one. I secretly wish for the Willow Tree nativity, but I just hate to ask for it because it is so expensive. I know that one year I will finally break down and tell Tim that I want it, and I know that he’d buy it if I really wanted it. Luckily, I don’t have room for it in this house, so it will have to be when we move to a bigger house. Whew! Anyway, I love my nativity and put it out every year:

So, how about you… do you have a nativity at your home? Or some other really special decoration that you put out that has special meaning for you? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Today’s Christmas-themed “Question of the Day” is all about your Christmas stockings. You know, “the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there”. Love that story 🙂 So, do you hang stockings in your house? Are they on the mantle or somewhere else? How many do you have – one for each adult or just for the kids? Do your pets have stockings? Do you have stockings for your grandkids or someone else who might just be at your house on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but who might not be there the entire season? Are your stockings homemade or store-bought? And lastly – do you do all the stocking preparations, or does your significant other, or someone else, help you do the obtaining and filling (you know, helping Santa out!)

Here’s my answers – we do hang stockings, and they go up on our mantle at the same time the tree goes up. They are fairly new, some I bought a couple of years ago at Target that sort of coordinate with my tree skirt. I want to get one for our furry child Beau, but Tim doesn’t think he needs one. Our last dog, Sally, had her own stocking and it hung on our mantle every year. Tim thought it was silly and so far (this is our second Christmas with Beau), I have not gotten one for Beau. It’s hard though. Since we don’t have kids, I would really like to have one for Beau that I could fill. Speaking of that – I fill Tim’s stocking and end up buying a couple of things for mine. For years, I tried to get him to buy me something for my stocking, but that’s pretty much a lost cause. If I don’t get something, mine is usually empty. Sometimes, he will stuff a smaller gift in mine, but it’s not a deliberate thing. 🙂 We don’t have stockings for anyone else, and we’re often not here on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to do ours. But we will be this year. Now, I just have to find something for Tim’s stocking and help Santa out 😀

How about you? Leave me a comment and let me know!

I’m not going to play along to Menu Plan Monday this week, although I do have to cook some this week! Tim is out of town some on business, so I won’t have to cook for a couple of nights. I didn’t really plan a menu last week, but I did really good. I cooked every day and we only went out to eat one night – on Friday, our traditional date night. We went to our favorite Mexican place. Tim had a combination fajita plate (chicken, beef, chorizo and shrimp) and I had shrimp enchiladas. We splurged and had some guacamole, so I was a happy girl!

I got on the ball last week and got some shopping done. Yeah! I was gone one day from 1:20 to nearly 10 PM that night. Believe me, I was worn out! I got a lot done, though, and I also ordered a bunch online. I have 4 orders coming over the next few days, and I love it. I love getting packages in the mail and I love knowing that those were presents I didn’t have to go out and pound the pavement for. I do have a few more gifts to go, most notably for Tim. He wants us to get a new stove this year, but gosh, that’s hard to wrap and put under the tree!

So, my plan for Monday is Christmas-related. I hope to get a lot of wrapping done today. I hope to start on my Christmas cards. That and a ton of housecleaning and laundry are my exciting plans for the day 🙂

Oh, and I still hope to do some blogging this week. I’ve had a ton of trouble lately with my laptop and I just haven’t had a lot of time to try to fix my computer, still blog and check out your blogs. My Google Reader is at nearly 375 new posts, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that. I’ve never actually hit that “Mark All as Read” button, but I may be getting close. I still have a book-related blog post I want to find time to write, and talk about some books I’ve read lately. Hopefully later in the week! I’m also planning to ask a couple more Christmas-themed “Question of the Day” this week. They’re basic questions, but I always think it is fun to see what everyone else thinks and does at their house for Christmas. 😀

Have a great day, everyone!!

Feast One Hundred & Seventy-One
December 7, 2007

Appetizer
What was the last game you purchased? Hmmm, well we haven’t had a game console since the original Playstation. So it would have to be a board or card game. I bought a deck of Phase 10 cards last year and we have never opened them and played them 🙁 We’re not big into games here. Tim doesn’t like playing games with just the two of us. I ask a lot but always get turned down 🙁

Soup
Name something in which you don’t believe. Astrology. Evolution.

Salad
If you could choose a celebrity to be your boss, who would you pick? Hmm, maybe Rachael Ray or Robin Roberts from GMA. Got an “RR” thing going there, huh?!

Main Course
What was a lesson you had to learn the hard way? Never dare Tim. He will do everything in his power to prove you wrong 🙂

Dessert
Describe your idea of the perfect relaxation room. Maybe a cozy living room with big cushy comfy furniture. Soft music playing in the background. A big chair with ottoman where I could curl up to read. Next to a fireplace 🙂

Today’s photo for the day, Beau really likes Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash!

I had planned to either blog today or ask another Question of the Day. I’ve asked two Christmas-related QOTD this week, and have really loved reading everyone’s answers! But I don’t think I’ve got enough time to sit down and compose a “real” blog post. I spent the morning running errands, then my dad came by for lunch and a long visit, and now I have laundry to do 🙁 We’ll watch the NFL game tonight on our just added NFL Network, so maybe I’ll have some time to catch up on some things. I have some books that I have read recently that I wanted to do a quasi-review of, as well as talk about new books 😀

Alas, things are just too busy this time of year. Tomorrow (Friday), I actually hope to start my Christmas shopping. I am so behind this year. Usually by now, I’ve gotten some things bought, maybe even half of the gifts. And I would be contemplating whether to do more shopping or start wrapping. At this point, I just want to try to go shopping and find some things.

Hope everyone is having a good day and a great week. Enjoy this holiday season, and go hug someone you love 😀

Today’s Question of the Day is short and sweet. It’s cold outside and you’re all snuggled up at home. What’s your choice of something hot to drink this Christmas season? Do you like hot chocolate, with or without marshmallows? Do you drink hot apple cider or hot tea? Or would you rather have coffee?

My answer is all of the above! I love it all. I love hot cocoa and make my own mix every year that we give to family and friends. I love hot apple cider and make it at the holidays. I drink hot tea sometimes, although it’s not my first choice. Coffee is a near-daily item for me, but mostly just in the mornings. Tim is not a believer in decaf coffee, so I don’t ever buy it. So, coffee in the afternoons or evenings for me is a huge no-no. I can’t drink caffeine too late or I have trouble sleeping. Hot chocolate is good all day and night, though 😀

How about you? If you came over, what would you like a cup of to drink?!

I thought I’d start today asking one of a series of “Question of the Day” questions, about Christmas. We’re all alike, but we’re all different too, and I always love reading about how each of you celebrate, decorate, and commemorate Christmas. We’ll start off slow and easy this year, with the first question about your tree. 🙂

Are you going to put up a tree this year? Is it a real tree or an artificial tree? Are the ornaments an eclectic mixture, or very carefully chosen, as part of a theme or other plan? What color are the lights on your tree? And finally – is it up yet or not? If not, when do you put it up and take it down?

Ok, now for my answers! Our tree is up, and it’s an artificial pre-lit tree we bought last year (Tim’s job is to put up the tree and string the lights, so you can understand why he was so interested in getting a pre-lit tree!). We put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving. The ornaments are a very eclectic mixture – some from my childhood that I saved when my mom was going to throw them out, some from when I was single (pre-Tim, as we like to call it!), and the rest we’ve bought since we’ve been married. On most vacations, we try to get an ornament from where ever we’ve visited. Some, I just see at Target and like and buy 😀 This new tree is prelit with white lights, and I have been doing white lights on my tree for about 15 years now. I may eventually gravitate back to colored lights. I saw some really cool LED colored lights in the store this past weekend. Ours will stay up through Christmas, but I’ll have it down by New Years Eve.

Now, leave me a comment and let me know about you, your tree, who decorates it, what it has on it, etc. And have a very joyous holiday season!

Last week’s menu didn’t quite go according to plan. We ended up eating out a lot more than I had planned. So, I’ll try to move a couple of the meals to this week, as “carryover meals”. 🙂 We did end up eating over half of the items that I had planned last week, just not on the day I planned them. So, I thought I would try something different this week – instead of planning by day, I’ll just try to plan a few meals.

As always, thanks to Laura over at OrgJunkie for organizing and hosting this each week! Go check out her blog and you’ll find tons more recipes and menu plans.

Sunday – we had the steaks, baked potatoes and salad that we were supposed to have last week 🙂

Monday – I’m thinking some kind of soup, but my choices are limited. I ran out of potatoes and sweet potatoes. (Yes, I know, I could run to the grocery store, but I just don’t feel like it!!!). So I might either make this chili or maybe this chicken noodle soup

Rest of the week:

Beef Stroganoff, wheat noodles, green beans or peas
Seasoned White Beans with ham or turkey, peas, cornbread
Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese (carryover meal from last week; always a good standby in our house!)
Sweet and Sour Chicken, Potstickers, egg rolls

As always, the weekend is up in the air. I need to just totally give up on trying to plan food for the weekend 🙄

Have a great week, everyone!!!

Feast One Hundred & Seventy
November 30, 2007

Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride? I’m not big on the rides, so it would be a tame one. I like to go around in a big circle, fairly fast and at a bit of an angle or incline… something like the Matterhorn, I think it is called (at our local state fair). When we went to Disney, I loved several of the rides like Big Thunder Mountain. I did NOT like Tower of Terror because of the drop (fear of heights thing).

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations? Poorly. I don’t like crowds and I don’t like “overly social” settings. I don’t like being uncomfortable either 🙂

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics? With Tim, probably a 7 or 8. With other people, probably much lower like a 3 or 4. I don’t like controversy and I don’t like hurting other people’s feelings, so I tend to avoid talking about controversial or deep topics that people often have strong feelings about.

Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to? Nope. I got one, years ago, and got the flu. I know you’re not supposed to be able to get the flu from it, but I did that year and it was awful. I haven’t had a shot since, nor have I had the flu since! I figure, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 😀

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television? Oh wow, too many. Probably 4 hours or more a day, if you count the Today Show in the AM, occasionally Rachael Ray in the morning and Oprah in the afternoon, and our nighttime shows and football. TV is my main form of entertainment, that, reading and movies 🙂

Today is Tim’s birthday and I can’t let a chance go by to wish my darling husband Happy Birthday at my blog. I wrote a post about him last year (click here for that one) and one the year before that (even shorter, that one is here). Believe it or not, Tim doesn’t read my blog! I usually read the comments to him later, so he does get them. He works on a computer all day and sometimes half the night, and keeps our website and our blogs running, so he doesn’t really spend a lot of his spare time playing on the computer. He likes to play golf in his spare time! Which is what we did yesterday, as part of an early birthday present for him, I went with him to the golf course. We took Beau this time, for his first ever trip (pictures here). Tim also got to use his present I bought him, a Sky Caddie.

I’m going to do my best to see that he has a good day. But then again, I try most every day to see that he has a good day. Tim is the best thing that has ever happened to me and the best part of me. He works really hard to take care of me and Beau, and to make us happy. I could go on and on about him, but suffice it to say, he’s a great guy and I’m so very lucky to have him. 🙂

So, Happy Birthday Sweetheart! I love you 😀

I’m not feeling inspired to come up with some kind of a blog post today, so I thought I’d post a photo of Beau. I took this one a couple of weeks ago and thought it was so cute. Well, I think most every photo of my puppy is cute, but you get the idea 🙂 He likes to roll on his back and pull up his two front paws – this is his sign that he wants his belly rubbed! He does this a lot when Tim or I walk by him in the kitchen. You know, I’m posting this photo here, but I really need to be posting photos over at my Project365 blog. I was about 10 days behind, then posted 5 days worth of photos, but now I’m about a week behind again. Sigh. Maybe I’ll catch up soon!

I am staying pretty busy with catching up on things around here. Any spare time I have, I’m working on rebuilding my iTunes library. I blogged about my disaster here -but basically I deleted my entire iTunes library and am slowly trying to reload all of my music. I had a backup I had made months and months ago (ahem, like 9 or 10 months ago), which was woefully out of date. I’ve probably spent 8 hours so far trying to rebuild my music and playlists, and I still have a ways to go. A long ways 🙁

On the Christmas front, we’re partially decorated, but that’s it. I haven’t bought the first present. I don’t even have any ideas for anyone in our family. I don’t know where to start and I’m slowly starting to panic. I haven’t done Christmas cards and we haven’t done the outdoor decorating. Just my tree and Snow Village are up. I’ll probably post some photos in early December over at my Project365 blog.

Hope you all have a great day!