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Thursday, 09 July 2009

  • Things That Make Me Happy

    I have been in somewhat of a funk lately for many reasons.  Some of which I control and some of which I dont.  Yesterday, though, I began to return to my happy self.  Its the little things that really can make you happy.

    I havent really dont much grocery shopping in a while.  This means that I have been eating terribly.  Way too much junk and not enough fruits and veggies.  So I decided yesterday that I was going to stop at the grocery store on my way home from work - Jim wouldnt be getting home until late anyway. 

    I picked up a bit of fresh produce, although not as much as I was hoping for.  A lot of it was still too expensive or just didnt look very good.  The sweet cherries were on sale and seemed pretty good, so I went for those.  They were definitely the best of the produce I checked out.  I already finished the ones I brought for lunch.  I wish there was more.

    Lunches have been hard lately because I havent really been cooking.  With nothing in the fridge what the heck do you take for lunch?  Today's lunch was easy.  I found a pepperoni pizza lunchable in the clearance section for $0.50.  I dont usually buy them because they are so expensive, but I splurged at that price. 

    I also wanted to get something I could make for dinner so that I didnt eat more crap.  I walked through the meat department.  I noticed that the Hatfield Sausage was on sale.  Each of the packages also had a $1 off coupon attached to them.  So I decided I would make sausage for dinner.

    I picked up a few more things and then went to check out.  I remembered I had an instant lottery ticket that I still needed to cash in, so I got it out so that I wouldnt forget about it.  Again.  I finished paying for the food.  As I was waiting for the money from the lottery ticket (my whole $2 - Im RICH!), I was looking over my reciept, because that is just how I am. 

    I noticed that the 3 pound packages of Italian sausage rang up for $1.99, not $1.99 per pound as I had orginally thought.  So before I left, I went back and got more.  Each package cost $1.99 minus the $1 off coupon on each one. 

    So dinner last night consisted of sausage, corn, and cherries.  And I still have a ton of sausage in my freezer.  So if you have any good recipes that use sausage, please share!  We will be eating a lot of it over the next few weeks.  At $0.33 per pound, I couldnt say no!

    That is really all it takes to make me happy.  It makes me feel like I am doing something well. Today is also turning out to be a great day - and really for no reason.  It is taco night and I dont have to work tomorrow.  Only 1 week of work left - and I am excited! 

Wednesday, 08 July 2009

  • New York

    So after leaving Niagara, we headed over to New York.  My sister (Debbie) has a place in the Finger Lakes region that we call 'the cottage'.  It is actually on a bay off of Lake Ontario.  I completely love it up there! 

    Jim and I got to the cottage just before lunch time.  The drive from Niagara was less than 3 hours and we drove through some beatiful country.  (Most people think of NYC when they think of NY.  Let me assure you, the rest of the state is way better.)  My sister Jenn and family and arrived earlier in the morning.  Chad (her husband) and Buddy (the almost 4 year old) were outside when we arrived.  We unloaded a few things from the car.  Jim walked with Chad and Buddy to get worms.  Buddy was so excited about everything - fishing, boating, the rocky beach! 

    We all sat around for a bit and then made lunch.  I promised Buddy I would take him to the rocky beach after lunch.  (The rocky beach is the point where the bay and the lak meet.  They dredge the inlet so that boats can get through. We play on the edge of the lake there because it isnt huge rocks like most of the other places.)  Jenn joined us as well.  As soon as we got to the beach, we knew we wouldnt be staying long.  The lake was pretty rough.  That meant that we wouldnt be finding any beach glass because we wouldnt have a chance to look with the waves breaking.  (What we call beach glass is just small pieces of glass that has smoothed edges from the water.) 

    Buddy and I had worn our bathing suits, because I knew he would want to spend time in the water.  He only throws the rocks for so long before he wants to jump in the water too.  We made him hold my hand so that he didnt get swept away.  It was a good thing.  There was one wave that went completely over him.  When we got out of the water, I saw he had seaweed all over his head.  Jenn wiped his face and he immediately wanted to go back into the water! 

    I had finally gotten smart and worn flip flops that could get wet.  The rocks really start to hurt your feet after a while, especially when running back and forth from the waves!  One of the waves came in and Buddy turned and went back towards the shore, pulling me with him.  So when I turned, the wave caught one of my flip flops and pulled it off my foot.  I couldnt let go of Buddy on the shore fast enough.  The flip flop had bobbed up once and then was completely gone.  Lake Ontario owes me a flip flop!    Thankfully, they were old ones that I didnt really care about.

    The rest of the day was a picnic.  Some of my brother-in-law's family came over.  A few of their friends were there.  Everyone wa really waiting for the fireworks. 

    Each year, on the 3rd of July, there is what they call the 'Ring of Fire'.  Everyone on the bay lights road flares along their part of the bay.  So there is a ring of red lights around it.  I would love to see what it looks like from above!  There is also a ton of fireworks.  There is a professional display which is fantastic.  But many of the people around the bay also set off fireworks.  So there is at least a good 2 hours of fireworks.  (I love that they do it on the 3rd.  It means when the 4th is in the middle of the week, you dont have to worry about staying up late on the 4th and then going to work on the 5th!)

    On the 4th, we spent some more time just relaxing.  It was more or less a picnic again with the same people - we had tons of leftover food to eat!  Jim and I did go out on the kayak because it wasnt as overcast as the day before.  My upper body strength sucks!  I really should work on that. 

    A few picture highlights:

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    Buddy was 'fishing' off the dock.  He actually helped sometimes.  But mostly Chad did all of the work and Buddy held up the fish for pictures!

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    This one is Jordan.  She was so very happy in that saucer thing.  So many things to chew on!

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    This one is baby James.  (He is 1 week younger than Jordan.)  I love his crooked little smile.  He is perhaps the most content baby I have ever met.  I was holding him while he slept for a bit because my sister had to take care of something else.  When he woke up, he just stayed cuddled into my shoulder for a bit.  He is a cuddler - and I love it!

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    They look so tiny on Jim's lap.  I just love the picture. 

    Overall, it was a great weekend.  The kids are all tons of fun.  I love all of the giggles from the 2 babies.  I dont think that will ever get old.  Although, I am definitely not ready for a grumpy, tired toddler! 

Tuesday, 07 July 2009

  • Niagara Falls (with pictures)

    (Why is it that before every vacation I run around like an idiot with my head cut off?  Jim is absolutely amazing and does a ton of stuff around the house.  But when it comes to vacations?  I swear I could throw the video game controller through the tv.  This is never a good way to prepare for vacation!)

    Wednesday morning we headed out after sleeping in a bit.  (You know you are old when you leave at 9:30 and you still slept in...)  I had printed directions so that we would definitely be able to get there because Jim said the GPS in the car probably wouldnt have Canada in it.  Thankfully, he was wrong and we were able to follow the GPS the whole way.  No getting lost on this trip!  Driving was fanatastic.  We had the windows down most of the way because the weather was simply amazing.  There was hardly any traffic.  We really couldnt have asked for anything better.  (On a side note, a really cool and helpful feature on Jim's car was the ability to change everything from mph to kmph.  His car has a digital display and being able to change the display meant no guessing games.  Way cool.)

    This was my first time driving through border patrol.  Honestly?  I really didnt expect any questions from them.  I do half wonder what we would have had to do if we did have more than $1000.  I knew that we didnt have anything illegal and we were going for a legitimate reason, but he definitely still made me nervous!  Of course Jim almost busted up laughing as soon as we pulled up because he asked "Why are you going to Canada, eh?"

    Jim and I stayed at a KOA just over the Canadian border.  It was awesome!  It was actually on a pretty major road - which made it easy to get to - but it was still quiet.  They had a playground and a 'jumping pillow' (think giant moon bounce).  I really wanted to jump on the jumping pillow, but there were always tons of kids on it and I dont always share well!    They had 2 outdoor pools - one was a shallow kiddy pool and then a regular pool.  There was also an indoor pool and 2 hot tubs. 

    We did sleep in a tent, but there is also tons of space for RV's and they had little 'kamping kabins'.  There were regular bathrooms and showers.  They had kitchen areas that had a little electric buner thing and sink.  If you wanted, you could also bring some of your own kitchen things - like an electric skillet or george foreman grill.  So while we were camping, it wasnt the middle of nowhere without modern amenities that most people think of. 

    On Wednesday evening, we did not much of anything.  We went swimming a bit.  We played a bunch of cards.  We just sat around and relaxed.  On Thursday morning, we woke up, had breakfast and relaxed a bit more.  (That is really one of my favorite parts of camping - we dont do much of anything.)

    After lunch, we headed out to the Falls.  We did make one stop first.  We traded in all of the Canadian coin we have been collecting.  When all was said and done, we had $905 Canadian.  Not too shabby!    Nothing like getting paid to go on vacation!

    We found a parking lot that was only $5 for the day and parked.  We really didnt know for sure which direction the Falls were from there, but we figured we couldnt miss them.  (Usually this would be the part where I would say that we were wrong, but thankfully it was pretty obvious which direction it was to the Falls!)  As we were walking down the street, Jim and I both noticed a woman who appeared to be trying desperately to hide in the crowd.  She was definitely strung out on something.  And she was wearing a sheer black shirt, with no bra.    I dont think I will ever understand people.

    The Falls were pretty amazing.  Something that is apparantly not common knowledge: there is actually 2 sections to the Falls.  From the American side, you wouldnt be able to see the one section very well because you are pretty much right on top of it.  Jim and I walked around for probably about an hour and a half or so before heading out.  I absolutely loved the Falls.  But the area was extremely touristy and there were way too many people for my tastes.  I can only imagine how bad it would be on a weekend - especially for the 4th! 

    When we got back to the campground, I took a nap and Jim went swimming.  When I got up, we went over to the hot tubs.  Just before we got there it started to down pour.  We hurried into the building so that our towels wouldnt get soaked before we got to use them.  By the time we were done in the hot tub, it wasnt raining anymore - but it started raining soon after we got back to the tent.  So we ended up just going to bed early that night.

    On Friday morning we woke up early.  We took our time eating breakfast and packing up, but we were still gone by 8:30 to head over to my sister's place in New York.

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    The part you cant really see from the American side.

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    I loved the color of the water!  It looked so awesome.

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    I think this picture turned out really cool.  You can see the Maid of the Mist - just barely.  It really shows how much mist is produced from the Falls!

Monday, 29 June 2009

  • The Right Price Mart

    I havent updated in a bit.  Overall, I would say it isnt a bad thing.  Life has gotten in the way.

    Last Monday I went rock climbing with one of my girlfriends.  It has been so long.  I absolutely loved it!  She is on vacation at the moment, but we already have plans to go back.  If only I could convince my insurance to reimburse me for a membership at the rock gym.  I would go there way more often than a regualr gym.  Its a pretty intense workout too.  I do hope that we continue to go regularly - it would really help my upper body strength!  (And, of course, toning all of my muscles.)

    I've actually had some time to spend with Jim lately.  His classes are officially over.  Graduation is in less than 2 weeks!  Im so excited that we can go back to a less hectic life.  Im not totally ready for graduation yet though.  I want to look killer in my sundress and havent been doing so well with losing weight the last week or two. 

    Jim and I leave first thing Wednesday morning for Niagara.  I still have tons of things to do to get ready!  The one thing that was going to take me the longest to do, I did yesterday.  I had a pork loin in my freezer that I had gotten for a killer price.  I had meant to slice it into pork chops before I froze it, but that didnt happen.  So instead, it will be dinner on the 4th.  There will be plenty of people there so that it wont go to waste.  The only problem?  I had to get it to my mom's house so that she and my sister could take it to New York.  (I didnt want to chance it going bad in the 2 days before we get to my sister's place.)

    So yesterday I headed over to my mom's house.  My sister was there because she had worked Saturday night.  (She works every other Saturday and my mom watches my nephew.)  It has been about 2.5 months since I last saw her and my nephew.  Babies grow way too much in that amount of time!  But I love his giggle and his little screech when he is happy!    I cant wait to spend more time with him this weekend. 

    My brother-in-law stopped over for dinner before work.  Its not very often I get any sort of family dinner anymore. I miss the days when there was a family meal at least 6 nights a week.  My sister and BIL eat with my mom somewhat frequently.  I dont really live far away, but sometimes I feel like I am so out of the loop!  We jokingly named dinner with mom 'The Right Price Diner'.  The selection isnt very good - take it or leave it.  But the price is always just right - free.

    Before my BIL was headed out, my sister made a comment about looking for fabric for me.  My BIL asked if we were going shopping.  I said no, we were just looking through stuff mom had.  My sister looked at him and said that we were going shopping - at The Right Price Mart.  I really miss the goofy times. 

    I did manage to find a bunch of fabric for trivets.  I had just bought more last week, but now I have a ton because of the stuff I got from Mom.  I finally signed up at Etsy.com.  I havent listed anything yet.  I will probably wait until the beginning of next week when we get back from vacation.  If anyone is interested, I will make a deal with you so that I dont have to pay listing fees and sales fees on Etsy.    If anyone is interested, I will post pictures of all of the trivets I have made thus far.  There will always be more to come. 

    My life is moving in all kinds of directions.  I really dont know what to expect from a lot of things, but I am really excited for the possibilities!  So if this post seemed completely random, it is because my whole life seems to be completely random at the moment!

Monday, 22 June 2009

  • I Need Your Advice! (Updated)

    Im not sure if you all remember seeing these a couple of months ago or not.  (If not, I posted a picture of the original and one of my first attempts here.)  Anyway, after some thought, I had decided to make a bunch to sell.

    So far, I have made 13.  I have a bunch more that arent far from being finished.  I want to open an Etsy account and list them there.  My dilemma is how much do I charge? 

    So here are the important details:  Trivets/Pot Holders/Hot Pads  100% handsewn. 5.5 inches in diameter.  Below are a couple of examples of the ones that I have made recently.

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    What do you think?  How much do you think I should charge for them?  How much would you be willing to pay?

    Update:  Here is the information that I didnt share.  The cost of materials for these is minimal.  The investment is really my time.  Although they are small, each one takes me about 2 hours to complete.  I have been debating for a while how much I wanted to sell them for.  I would like to sell them for a bit higher of my price because of the time investment, but I also want to actually sell them.  So I was thinking about a compromise (with myself?).  I would sell them individually for $7 each.  If you buy 3 or more, $5 each.  (Im not sure I can do that on Etsy, I havent really checked out all of the details yet.) 

    My only other dilemma is what do I call my Etsy store? 

    A few of you mentioned that you really liked some.  If you want some, I can work something out with you.  We can do it not via Etsy so that I wouldnt be charged any fees and then we can share the savings. 

    Thanks for all of your input!

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  • Im really tired of hearing about Michael Jackson.  No one cared before he died, so why should I care now?
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