Exceedingly Mundane

tidbits of random nothingness

Apr
06
Posted by Stace

Quiz: What Color is your blog?


Your Blog Should Be Blue


Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere.
You tend to avoid conflict – you’re more likely to share than rant.
From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.
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Apr
06
Posted by Stace

Bad TV night

I was really looking forward to all of my “shows” last night. We taped Bones, something we have started watching on Fox. We love all these good forensic shows that have interesting, likable main characters. We also taped the Idol results show, which we later watched. I was very sorry to see Mandisa go home. Granted, she didn’t do a great job with that Shania Twain song (that I love, by the way), but she was a heck of a lot better than a couple of others.

We watched Amazing Race and that was my heartbreaker for the night. Although I like several of the teams (and have team Mojo in a little informal pool I’m in), my favorite team by far has been “the nerds” – Dave and Lori. I just so hated to see them eliminated. I was sooo hoping for a non-elimination round (they haven’t had one yet, have they?), but no such luck. Sigh, my favorites are gone. I watched “The Early Show” this morning and saw their interview. They were as sweet and lovable on there as on the show. And to finish up, they said they were going to get married, so that made me really happy.

Lost was a horse of a different color. Tim called it right away, in the first 10 minutes, that “Dave” was Hurley’s alter ego. It was a rather boring episode, I thought, except for the little curve ball they threw in at the very end -Libby was in the same psych ward. Sigh. Ho-hum. Who cares. I want to know more about Henry, the Others and the hatch.

All in all, a disappointing night.

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Apr
05
Posted by Stace

Spring Has Sprung

Well, several of the harbingers of spring have now come to pass for me… among them:

  • We’ve had to turn on the A/C already. It’s not on right now, but we had to run it this past weekend. Ugh. I always try to wait till late April or early May, but not this year.
  • I actually did a little spring cleaning the other day. {shudder} I vacuumed our mattress, vacuumed several of the blinds, and threw a bunch of the curtains in the dryer (to get all of the dust out of them, and fluff them up). I have not cleaned windows or moved furniture, thank goodness.
  • Today, I took the winter sheets (jersey, not flannel) off our bed and put on the summer (cotton) ones.
  • Finally, I did something I swore up and down I would not do. I always try to resist and not buy spring annual flowers until after Easter. I believe in that old wives tale about there always being one last freeze before Easter. I checked the 10 day forecast and no low’s in the 30’s forecast for us, so I broke down and bought one, just one, little annual to plant in a pot on my deck. I was very good and didn’t buy any more. I could have. And I wanted to. But, I didn’t, so hush your mouth.

    I bought a New Guinea impatien. I don’t think I’ve tried these before, or haven’t in pots. I need to plant it tomorrow or the next day:

    New Guinea Impatien for a pot on my deck

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    Apr
    05
    Posted by Stace

    Climbing Rose

    Tim and I bought our first climbing rose last year, and planted it on the back fence. He even built a custom trellis that attaches to our fence, to give it more space to grow up and on.

    Well, me not having a green thumb, I didn’t know when or how to prune this bush. So, as I do my other spring flowering shrubs, I pruned it in the winter, before it would bloom in the spring. Which was apparently ok, but I pruned it a little much. It is blooming up a storm, and has been for several weeks, but it’s not very big. In fact, it’s about the same size as it was last year when we bought it at Lowe’s. However, it had already bloomed last year, and I didn’t know what the buds and blooms looked like. This year, I’ve really been enjoying watching it bloom, the small roses are so pretty and delicate and yellow!

    Next year, I’ll have to be sure to not prune it, and give it a chance to grow up on the fence like we’d like. I just hope that won’t affect its blooming next spring. Apparently, this type of climbing vine only blooms once, for about 4-6 weeks in the spring. It’s so pretty though, these pictures don’t do it justice!

    Climbing Roses

    P.S. If you’d like to see the individual photos larger, some of them are on my Flickr album. Just check out the sidebar and click on the Flickr image and then you can scroll through my album (mostly pictures of flowers, birds and squirrels!) and find the larger pictures of my Lady Banks climbing rose. 🙂

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    Apr
    04
    Posted by Stace

    They’re Sprouting!

    I bought a cheap little herb kit in Walmart a couple of weeks ago, and planted the seeds about 10 days ago. I’ve been watering them faithfully every day (just a little, with a mist sprayer so I don’t over soak them and rot them out) and now, they are starting to sprout!

    I’m not sure what is what, or how much more they will grow, but just this little bit of germinating is enough to make me happy. 🙂 I don’t have a particularly green thumb and haven’t had much luck with things like this in the past. So, this is good!

    Herbs Sprouting (10 days)

    Read the rest of this entry »

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    Apr
    04
    Posted by Stace

    Happiness is…

    Happiness for someone like me (very boring and mundane), is a new cooking magazine and a new book: :mrgreen:

    Happiness

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    Apr
    04
    Posted by Stace

    Tuesday Twosome Meme

    Tuesday Twosome Meme

    1. How many computers are in your home? Are they for personal or business use? Lots. 3 “regular” ones and one laptop from work. We have 2 PC’s running Linux that comprise Hambones, and my regular windows desktop.

    2. How many cars does your household own? What are the colors of the cars? 2 Fords. Tim’s is a dark grey and mine is a maroon.

    3. When was the last time you did a thorough cleaning of your home? Did you find anything that you thought you lost? Ick. That sounds like spring cleaning to me. Seriously, I try to keep things clean around here so I don’t have to do much deep cleaning. Of course, if you move the refrigerator or the couch or the bed, dust bunnies will be very prevalent. I don’t do that often!

    4. Do you generally get along with your neighbors? Is there one neighbor that really gets on your nerves? Yes, we get along with our neighbors really well. Now that spring is upon us, we’ve been out more and so have our neighbors. We’ve been talking up a blue streak to several of them, catching up.

    5. Are you basically content with your living situation? Why or why not? Heavens, yes. I am a homebody, nesting type person to the nth degree. I love being home. I love having a home. I love taking care of me and Tim. I wouldn’t change a thing (except to get another dog – hint hint).

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    Apr
    03
    Posted by Stace

    Movie at the Grandview

    We went to see a matinee of “Inside Man” yesterday at our new Grandview Theater. I’ll try to write up a review this week on Hambones.org. We both liked it, but Tim gave it a higher rating than I did. I expected more in the way of plot development, I think, than he did. And with Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster, I think I just expected more. It was still a good movie, and would be a great rental when it comes out on DVD.

    Anyway, I’ve blogged about our new theater before, but I hadn’t been able to post any pictures. As much as I love my new camera that I got for Christmas, it’s bigger and bulkier than my previous digital camera, which I could sometimes stick in my purse. Enter our new Razr phones we got a few weeks ago, and voila, I can take pictures inside our new theater. Well, at least I thought I could. The cameraphone doesn’t have a flash and it seems that all the interior lighting (a lot of neon and dim lighting everywhere else) really messed up my shots. They’re not great, but better than nothing, so I’m including them on the extended page…

    Read the rest of this entry »

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    Apr
    03
    Posted by Stace

    Monday Madness Meme

    Monday Madness Meme

    Fun questions today, thanks Otto!

    1. Do you own any box sets of your favorite shows? Not a single one. We own over 100 DVD movies, but none of TV shows. Tim doesn’t get into those at all.
    2. Are you penpals with other people? Not really. Email buddies but no penpals
    3. Do you still send out real, paper cards in the mail? Just the “regular” kind – birthday cards, Christmas cards, thank you notes. An occasional “congrats on the new baby” or sympathy cards. That’s about it, though.
    4. Have you ever bought or sold anything on Ebay? Nope, not a single solitary thing. I’m staying out of that quicksand, as long as I can.
    5. Did you have to set your clocks an hour ahead this past weekend? We move them on Sunday mornings, never the night before.
    6. How many of your blog buddies’ birthdays do you know? Just family ones
    7. When is your birthday (need not include year)? October 18

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    Apr
    02
    Posted by Stace

    By the Way Sunday Meme

    By the Way Sunday Meme

    I was going to blog about this anyway, in my daily rambling. Might as well do Sindee’s fun weekly meme as the tool!

    ~April Fools~

    By the way…
    Have you been the fooler or the fooled?Always the fooled. 😕
    Care to share? Yesterday, I was taken in twice. April Fool’s. Huh. Seems like a way to be mean to people, to me. 😛

    Let’s see… Gail got me first. She called in the AM and convinced me she was sick, and that she might not be able to drive to North Carolina to visit Jeremy, Kathryn and Katelyn. She was going to keep Katelyn for a week, while Kathryn went back to work after maternity leave. She said she ate something and she was feeling horrible, yada, yada, yada. I’m so gullible that not only did I believe her, but I felt sorry for her, was sympathetic and hated that she wasn’t feeling good. Yeah, right. April Fool’s.

    Then, Tim got me later on in the day. He and Don went to play golf at the Refuge. On the way home, he called on the cell and Chris and Elizabeth had just gotten here. I needed to go ahead and order pizza, so I switched phones and ordered 2 large pizzas plus an order of cheese sticks from our favorite pizza joint. Delivery was over an hour, so I got back on the cell with Tim and got him to stop and wait for pick-up (20 minutes). Tim called about 25 minutes later and said “I got the pizzas – did you order smalls? These boxes are really small.”. No, and I proceeded to get upset that they got our order wrong and we had 5 hungry people and two tiny pizzas. Well, after letting me wax on a while, Tim finally says the magic words “April Fool’s!”. Yeah, right. Got me again. I’m too gullible and naive and trusting for my own good.

    They weren’t mean or malicious, but just go to prove that I believe and trust people. And people are mean to me. One of my favorite phrases is always “why is everybody always picking on me?” Never were truer words spoken.

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    Miss Julia Throws a Wedding by Ann B. Ross I finished another book yesterday, the third in the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross, entitled “Miss Julia Throws a Wedding.” Another good light, charming, Southern book about an elderly widowed woman in North Carolina and the charming friends and family she gets into various and sundry escapades with. Very light and entertaining, which I was totally in the mood for. I enjoyed it 🙂

    That makes #15 for the year, with a total of 5,421 pages read. Next up to read is another light story of friends through the years, “Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons” by Lorna Landvick. I hope it’s good! 🙂

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    Apr
    01
    Posted by Stace

    Saturday Stats

    Saturday’s Bullet points:

  • Exercise – check. Walked 2 miles this AM
  • Beverage – coffee in the AM. Current creamer flavor – cinnamon. Peach tea for lunch. Diet Dr Pepper (caffeine free) for supper, if we order pizza. Otherwise, water
  • Food – hopefully Papa John’s pizza for supper. If not, maybe we’ll go out
  • Music – listening to an 80’s Mix I have on my iPod
  • Books – reading “Miss Julia Throws a Wedding”. Loving it 🙂
  • TV – not a blasted thing on that interests me.
  • Playing – hopefully playing games with Chris and Liz later. Choices: Phase 10 (they have to teach us), Mille Bornes (we have to teach them), Liverpool, Trivial Pursuit
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    Apr
    01
    Posted by Stace

    All’s Quiet on the Western Front

    Or at least for now, all is quiet. Yesterday turned out to be a busy day at home, baking homemade bread, cooking, cleaning, laundry and other various and assorted tasks. Tim and I caught up on some TV that we had taped from earlier in the week last night. (He had to work a little while last night, too).

    This morning, we got up and went for our 2 mile walk in our subdivision. Did a few things around the house, and now it’s all quiet here. Just me and myself and my iPod. Tim left a little while ago to go meet Don and play 18 holes of golf. So, I know he’s going to have a great day. 😆 I’m going to play on the computer, read and maybe do a little more laundry. We’re hoping that Elizabeth and Chris get to come over tonight. Hopefully their busy social schedule will allow it, and we can order pizza and play games or watch a movie. Should be fun!

    On the rodent front :mrgreen:, the squirrels have now found the feeder I put out for them. They are tearing through the corn cobs on an almost daily schedule. I have several more pictures of “furry rodents eating corn” if anyone is interested. So, if those excite you more than the flower or bird pictures, let me know and I can post some. I took a bunch of pictures a couple of days ago. I had a squirrel here for about 45 minutes and he ate about 3/4 of a corn cob right by himself. Little sucker was hungry!

    Lastly, in addition to the bread I’ve been making, I made a new recipe the other night. A new recipe for alfredo sauce. I made fettucine alfredo with shrimp and we both really liked it. I’m going to make the sauce again in a couple of weeks and pour over penne, along with some grilled chicken and probably mushrooms. I would add broccoli, but Tim has turned into a broccoli-hater. Won’t touch the stuff. 🙄

    Happy Saturday, everyone!

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    Mar
    31
    Posted by Stace

    Stuff Portrait Fridays

    Stuff Portrait Fridays

    This week’s assignment from her Random and Odd Self, Kristine:

  • Your washer and Dryer
  • Your Robe
  • A Flower
  • Mine are on the extended page, along with a note of gratitude and appreciation to Kristine and the folks that come here and leave comments. Thanks to you guys, I got my new stainless steel trash can I had been lusting after (a previous SPF assignment!!). 😀

    Read the rest of this entry »

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    Mar
    30
    Posted by Stace

    Woodpecker

    We’ve had a woodpecker or two hanging around our house and bird feeder for the last couple of months. I knew we had a woodpecker, because sometimes I would hear him up on our metal chimney cap, pecking away and sounding like a jackhammer, hitting the metal cap. Then, I started noticing a really large, really odd looking bird on my bird seed feeder. He’s much bigger than the cardinals that get on there (which are bigger than the normal visitors -sparrows, or the chickadees or wrens). This bird has a red head, so I got on the Internet and searched for “red headed woodpecker”. Come to find out, he’s called a “red-bellied” woodpecker. You can read about him here or here.

    Or, you can check him out here… after several weeks of trying to get a shot of him from inside the house, I finally got one. It’s hard to get a decent shot on full zoom, from inside, with the screens we have on our windows. Also hard to get a photo of most of these birds, because they see movement inside the house and fly off before I can get my camera and get it set up. My patience was finally rewarded yesterday, and I took this picture of my male, red-bellied woodpecker:

    Red Bellied Woodpecker

    Handsome devil, you think? Not. I think he’s sort of ugly but I’m glad to have finally gotten his picture after so much effort 🙄

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