Sunday, December 15, 2013

Counting My Blessings

     A few minutes ago I was sitting at my computer reading some facebook posts.  A common past time of mine.  I went back to an earlier post from a friend of mine asking for some new Christmas music ideas.  She wanted something more lively than what she usually listened to.  I had added my two cents worth telling her that Trans Siberian Orchestra definitely had some lively music.  I wanted to see what other ideas people had posted, as I'm always looking for new ideas for my music library.  As I was reading through the posts I saw one from another one of her friends saying that he couldn't hear but if he could what group he would be interested in, from things he'd read.
     That post struck something deep inside of me.  I felt myself tearing up as I sat here listening to my Christmas music.  I realized how I take things like hearing and eyesight for granted.  I began to imagine what it would be like not being able to hear or see.  I can't even imagine that because I have truly been blessed to have good hearing and eyesight.  Even if I was to lose either one of those senses, I still would have the memories of sights and sounds to help me remember.
     What if I had never been able to hear or see?  I would never really know what I was missing.
      I take so many things in my life for granted.  I should be counting my blessings every day for what I have instead of wishing for more.  Yes, it would be wonderful to win that big Mega Millions jackpot, but I have so much already, that so many others don't have.  A roof over my head.  A coat to keep me warm.  A car to get me where I need to go.  A good job.  Food. Family. Friends. The list of blessings goes on and on.
     I have a good life!  I hope to keep that in mind as the holiday season progresses and long afterwards.  God has been very good to me!  I pray that he blesses each of you and you open your eyes and ears to those many blessings.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Choosing New Furniture is a PAIN!

So my newly remodeled livingroom is almost done.  It's time to pick out new furniture.  I never knew how hard it was going to be.

First up is the new couch and recliners.  I knew I wanted La-Z- Boy recliners, so my daughter and I headed out there to test some recliners out.  Hard job, but someone's gotta do it!  I had looked them up online and saw how you could get them made in practically any color or fabric design you wanted.  I think there was over 600 different varieties of fabric to choose from.  I had visions of a purple couch with rose recliners to go with my newly painted green walls.

We arrived at the La-Z-Boy store and started looking at some beautiful couch and recliner sets.  It didn't take long for a salesman to zoom in on us.  I asked him the appropriate questions and soon found out that if you wanted those special colors you were looking at a much higher price and a good 6-8 week wait and since the holidays are coming it would be closer to 10 weeks...  There went my dreams of lovely purple and rose furniture.  So as reality set in, since there was no way I was going to wait that long I want my living room done before Thanksgiving, we started looking at all of the lovely furniture in browns, tans, blacks and other dismal colors.  *sigh* After testing out a few reclining couches and chairs we decided that maybe those colors weren't so bad if they were that comfy.  Believe me they were comfy.  I'm talking about nap time comfy!  ZZZZzzzzzz  We chose a beautiful tan colored couch that had recliners on both ends and matching recliners in a dark, chocolate colored brown.  My daughter said it felt like resting on a cloud, they were so soft!  One of the recliners is even better because it's a power recliner.  You push buttons and your feet go up, head down, lumbar supported and so on.  So absolutely sinful, including the price...well there is a 5% discount, to take into consideration.  That certainly makes it all good!

I asked how long it was going to take to deliver this little bit of heaven and he said it would be at our house by mid next week.  That seemed reasonable, since we were still finishing up the floor trim.

A few days later we started searching for the perfect TV console and matching bookshelves.  I don't want one of those huge, all connected entertainment centers.  I just want a nice TV console that I'll put in the center of one wall and then two 6 foot bookshelves that I can place on both ends of that wall.  It will store our major collection of cds and dvds, as well as a few decorative items.  I did not know what a chore this was going to be.  I found something I liked but it was going to take several weeks to get delivered and I need to get this cluttered mess of a house, somewhat organized ASAP!  That wouldn't do for me.  Other places we looked had little to nothing that I liked or that looked like it would hold up for a while.  We went home discouraged and a lot disappointed.

The next day we decided to try Arnold's.  Another furniture store here in town.  Within minutes I saw the TV console I wanted and they could deliver it in two... only 2 days!!!  I was all over that.  They had some very nice bookshelves as well, but since they were made to order it was going to take several weeks.  By now I was just happy to have a place to put our TV and other electronic devices, so I was okay with waiting a few weeks for some quality bookshelves that would work with the other furniture.  At least now we can get the house a little organized before the holidays.

Our next purchases will be an area rug for the center of the room and a new floor lamp.  I have a feeling that those might be significantly easier finds, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high just in case.

To wrap up this post these are the most important things I've found out when it comes to furniture shopping:
1. It's not cheap!
2. It's not going to get to your house in a timely manner.
3. It's not all going to match.
4. No matter how much you spend, delivery is not free unless you do it yourself.
If you go out there shopping with these 4 things in mind then you'll be prepared for most anything and hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised when one or more of these things doesn't come true for you!

Happy Furniture shopping!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Weasley is his name!

Today's post is all about our cat, Weasley.  My daughter adopted him from the humane society and decided to call him Weasley.  His name comes from the red headed Weasley family in the Harry Potter Books because he's a red cat.

Weasley is our property watch dog.  Any other cat, besides our own, that sets foot on our property is quickly chased off by him.  Sometimes this involves some loud noises and fur flying but usually the other cat rapidly vacates the property.

Ever since he was a little kitten, Weasley loved the outdoors.  We didn't intend for him to be an outdoor cat but it was in his blood and he insisted we let him fulfill his need of the great outdoors.  If not he will meow and howl until you go insane.  One of his greatest pleasures is to find a patch of sunshine and sleep in it.  This started at a very young age.
Baby Weasley lying in the windowsill soaking up the sun.
Weasley has been perhaps the slowest of our animals to warm up to newcomers.  He grew up with Zeke, so they get along fine.  Zeke gets along with everyone!  Bella arrived in our home when Weasley was still a kitten, so they got along pretty well, except when she decided to chase him around or wrestle with him.

Bella kicking Weasley's butt!

It took about a year for Weasley to accept Beans, our second dog, into the family.  I think it might have had something to do with Beans chasing Weasley every chance he got.  He didn't like that Weasley would try to slink past him.  Beans does not like slinking cats!  That means the chase is on!  He's slowly adapted to the twins, Monkey and Daisy.  As long as they don't mess with him, he's ok.  Monkey tries to strong arm him sometimes and amazingly Weasley does put up with it but I think it's because Monkey is about twice his weight and a bully.

 Weasley does come in to eat, drink and nap.  The wetter and cooler it is outdoors the more we see him inside.  When he's inside he loves to find a comfy nap spot, preferably away from the evil twins...Daisy and Monkey.
This backpack looks like a good place to hide and take a nap.

This box in front of the fire is nice and warm!





There's nothing like a nice cozy dog bed for a good napping spot.

Ahhhhh!  Nothing like a nice cool floor in the summer time!  Cooling my tummy!

This was taken just a couple months ago.  He can relax on the chair while guarding the yard.

Another kitten picture just because it's so cute!

Weasley is a much loved member of our family and my daughter's first fur baby of her own.  I guess that makes him my first grandchild!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Happy Halloween Pets!

Since Halloween is tomorrow I thought I would share some of our Halloween pet and pumpkin pictures we've taken over the last few years.  My daughter, Kristen carved the pumpkins.  I hope you enjoy them and have a Happy Halloween!

Beans and Zeke posing with a kitty pumpkin design from last year.  They don't look too happy about that.

Weasley is posing with this years Pomeranian pumpkin.  
Bella was our best posing kitty.  Unfortunately she disappeared last summer.  We miss her and her great poses terribly.
Here's another picture of Bella posing a couple years ago.  This is the picture that started our pets posing with pumpkins yearly event.

Baby Daisy posing last year by our pumpkin.  This is her usual happy picture face.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Favorite Finds Part 1

I love to shop, especially when I get a good deal and find something I end up loving.  Here are a few of my favorite items that I've found and love in the past year.  I'm sure that there will be more things that I find and I'll share them in later posts.



This is the front of my Duraflame electric stove heater.  It is fantastic!  My Mom had one that I had admired, so when I saw it on sale on QVC as a TSV I had to order it!  I used it all last winter and it saved me approximately $40 a month on my electric bill, which is fantastic!  My electric furnace is not very good at all and we tend to heat with a woodstove, but my living room always seems to be cold.  This little heater was the perfect solution to that.  I turn it on high and watch the LED flames flicker and it heats my room right up.  I would and have recommend this to anyone!  I tried to get a good picture of the embers glowing and the color of the flames in the background, but the pictures just didn't show up right.

This chair massager from HoMedics is great!  As someone that tends to have a lot of backaches I find this works fantastically.  It has shiatsu and rolling massage options as well as heat.  You can choose whether you want it to stay in one position or roll up and down your whole back.  I can't really remember where I ordered this from but am pretty sure it was one of my QVC finds.  I've also seen similar models at Costco.  It is well worth the price and so far has held up really well.  I've been using it for at least a year now.

This is one of a set of 2 Berkshire soft fluffy throws I ordered from QVC.   Another great find, that I can't get enough of.  This throw is so light and fluffy and warm.  I love cuddling up in it while I watch my favorite shows.  It is so soft!  They wash up really well and stay nice and soft even after multiple washings.  This is also a great gift.  My daughter got one last year for Christmas and after I felt it I had to have one too!

I've mentioned before how one of my favorite things is an olive and feta mix that you can find at the Safeway deli.  When I saw this Greek Olive Salad at my local Costco I had to stock up!  First of all the price was considerably less than the deli mix and it not only had olives and feta it had pepperoncini and lemon slices in it!  Two other items that I really love!  Yum!  The only downfall was I didn't think it had quite enough feta in it but it's still very tasty and you can always add more feta if you want.

I have always loved chocolate covered caramels and when you add sea salt to the mix it goes over the top!  Imagine my joy when I found these little gems at Costco.  The price was very good, under $10 and there are plenty of caramels in the tub.  Enough to share, if you want.  I have one or two a day and enjoy every delicious chocolatey, caramelly salty bite!  Mmmm Mmmm
Last but definitely not least is this company.  After you eat too many salted chocolate covered caramels, you will need to wear larger clothes.  It's hard to find decent very large sized clothes in the shops near where I live.  I found this company online and started ordering clothes from them.  They fit well, wear well and look nice.  The prices aren't bad, they have a large selection and they usually have some good deals.  Now I can find jeans that are long enough and tops that cover my fat.  No, they don't hide it but they do cover it!  One day I truly hope to lose all my extra weight, but until that day comes it's nice to know I have some clothing options.

That's it for this round of my favorite finds.  I'll be scoping out some new ones to bring to you next time.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Halloween Candy

It's that time of year when everywhere you go there are piles of candy bags, just waiting to jump into your shopping cart.  I managed to ignore them until just the other day.  I thought that I'd better buy a couple bags, meaning four, just in case we get a few trick-or-treaters this year.
Now the trick for us will be trying not to eat all of that candy before Halloween.  It will be hard because I always have to buy my favorite candies.  The one year, I was actually sticking to my diet, I bought the candies that I don't really like.  Yes, there are actually some candies I don't like and can easily pass up.  One of those candies is Smarties.  When I mentioned last year to someone at work that I didn't like Smarties, they ridiculed me.  They said that is the all time favorite treat and that everyone loved them.  So I had to set out on a mission to ask everyone at work if they loved them or not.  Truthfully, most people did like them but there were a few that didn't.
Another candy that I can do without is the Three Musketeers bars.  Not sure why, but I just really don't care for them.  Candy corn is not a favorite.  Anything that is cinnamon flavored like red hots...ugh!
Now for some of my favorite Halloween candy treats!  I love those little snack sized Take Five bars.  The only problem is I can't find them in very many places and so far I haven't found them at all this year!  *sigh*
I also love Mounds, Butterfingers, Milky Ways and Peanut butter Snickers and a whole long list of other chocolaty treats.  Those were the four bags I bought the other day.  So far I've managed to only eat one Mounds bar, although just writing about them is making me think I might need another one.

  I like to go to my Mom's on Halloween and help hand out candy.  The best part is she hands out full sized candy bars and we get to bring some home for ourselves!  That is very good incentive to go up and visit her on Halloween.

Do you have a favorite Halloween candy?  Are you able to keep enough for those little trick-or-treaters or do you need to run out and buy more before they show up at the house?  Or better yet, do you just keep your porch light out and sit inside and eat all the candy yourself?


Thursday, October 17, 2013

Yummy Chex Mix!

As I've said before in a previous blog, Autumn makes me think of assorted foods.  Things like homemade soups and bread, hearty casseroles, apple crisp and Chex Mix.  This time of year just seems to scream Chex Mix.  Maybe it has something to do with all of the carefully displayed boxes of Chex at the grocery store and the big multi pack at Costco.  Whatever the reason I usually do make it several times throughout the season and into winter.
The thing I like about it is, it's quick, if you use the microwave method and you can change the recipe to suit your tastes.  Here's a copy of the recipe to get you started and a link to their site and other recipes that are just as yummy. 

Ingredients
3cups Corn Chex® cereal
3cups Rice Chex® cereal
3cups Wheat Chex® cereal
1cup mixed nuts
1cup bite-size pretzels
1cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces
6tablespoons butter or margarine
2tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2teaspoons seasoned salt
3/4teaspoon garlic powder
1/2teaspoon onion powder
Tips
Did You Know?
The original recipe includes Corn Chex®, Rice Chex® and Wheat Chex®. You can mix and match to suit your taste—just use a total of 9 cups of cereal.
Health Focus
To reduce the fat to 2 grams and the calories to 80 per serving, use 3 tablespoons margarine instead of the 6 tablespoons butter, omit mixed nuts and use fat-free bagel chips.
Special Touch
Make enough of this favorite mix to package up as gifts for special friends—it’s so good and always a welcome surprise!
Preparation Directions
1.In large microwavable bowl, mix cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips; set aside. In small microwavable bowl, microwave butter uncovered on High about 40 seconds or until melted. Stir in seasonings. Pour over cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated.
2.Microwave uncovered on High 5 to 6 minutes, thoroughly stirring every 2 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool. Store in airtight container.
Oven Directions Heat oven to 250°F. In large bowl, mix cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips; set aside. In ungreased large roasting pan, melt butter in oven. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in cereal mixture until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.
Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 140 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 2 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g);Cholesterol 10mg; Sodium 280mg; Total Carbohydrate 16g (Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 2g); Protein 3% Daily Value*: Vitamin A 6%; Vitamin C 2%; Calcium 6%; Iron 30Exchanges: 1 Starch0 Other Carbohydrate0 Vegetable1 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1 MyPyramid Servings: 1 tsp Fats & Oils
*% Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.


Some changes I usually make to the recipe are:  no pretzels or bagel chips.  I use dry roasted, salted peanuts instead of the mixed nuts.  I use a whole cube of butter instead of 6 tablespoons because it's easier!  I always add a little more Worcestershire sauce because I like it.  Once I have the butter melted and all of the seasonings mixed in I add the wheat Chex first because I like them to absorb lots of that buttery goodness.  They are my favorite Chex.  Next I add the other two Chex cereals and the nuts.  Mix it up and start the microwaving process.  It's fast and delicious.  Perfect for movie night or the big game, although you might need to make more than one batch, it's that good!





Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Twins Daisy and Monkey

My youngest daughter graduated from college in June 2012.  She wanted a kitten for a graduation gift.  Since she's living with us, that wasn't an option.  We already had two cats and two dogs.  My husband doesn't say much but one thing he says a lot is "NO more cats!".
Well those words didn't stop us from visiting the local Humane Society occasionally, like we always do.  After a couple months of talking about kittens, I think my husband had resigned himself to the fact that we were going to end up with one.  He didn't say anything either way but you know he knew it was going to happen.
One day, on a visit to the Humane Society, the office area was overflowing with kittens.  There were two that caught our eye.  They were brother and sister.    The silver tabby was the one we really wanted, the little female, but how can we leave her brother behind.  He was a darker tabby.  We couldn't possibly take one and not the other.  We had noticed the price was quite high for a kitten and I'm sure it was because of their longer fur.  There was no way I was going to pay that price two times for two kittens, so we were going to go with the silver one.   We went up to the desk to ask about them.   Guess what?  It was two for one kitten day!  We could buy them both for the one price!  So we said, okay!  We filled out the paperwork, got the talk and paid.  Then as they go to get the kittens out of their cage, I notice one of the volunteers is a little afraid to grab them out and put them in the carrier.  They call over another guy who reaches in a grabs a very disgruntled kitty out.  As this is going on we find out that they are feral kittens!!!  Uh oh...what have we gotten ourselves into???
They give us advice on how to socialize them and introduce them into our household.  We're thinking, how hard can this be?  They're just adorable little kittens that want to be held and loved right?
We get them home, after  I call my hubby and warn him of our purchase.  I want him to have time to stew over it before he gets home from work. hehe  As he later tells friends "I tell them no more cats and they bring home two!"  He's a good guy so he goes with the flow.
We take a couple days to decide what to name them.  After many suggestions I finally decide on the name Monkey for the little male, the dark tabby and my daughter names the silver female, Daisy.
We get the babies home and decide the best thing to do is put them in the bathroom for a few days.  We'll take them out a few times a day and hold them, so they get used to us.  So we set up the bathroom.  Keep in mind that we only have a one bathroom home.  So keeping kittens in there, with all of their extras, like a litter box, toys, sleeping tent, food and water, made getting ready for the day in the morning a little interesting.  Nothing like stepping on litter, that was flung all over the floor, in your bare feet!  Ouch!
After a few days, they graduated to an area in the living room that we had fenced in with a doggy fence.  Over a period of a few more days we enlarged their area more and more.  They were very playful and little Monkey was the first to really start coming out of his shell.
Monkey has grown into a real lovebug.  When I say grown I mean really grown.  At his first Vet. appt. he weighted only 5 pounds.  Now he's over 17 pounds, after just a year.  Daisy is still quite fearful.  She likes to play and get pets, but only when she decides.  If you approach her when she's not receptive she'll either run off or cringe away from you.  She does like treats and the opening of the treat drawer will definitely draw her attention.  She has not grown as large as her brother.
 Monkey absolutely loves anyone and anything.  He follows the dogs around as well as people.  He wants to be one of the gang.  He's also a bit of a bully when it comes to food.  You pour out food for another cat and he's right there pushing them out of the way to get to it. The funny thing is, if there hadn't been that 2 for one kitten sale, we were going to buy only Daisy.  We would've missed out on this wonderful, loving cat and would've only had this disgruntled female cat.  We got lucky!
Here are some pictures of our twinsies!

Here's baby Monkey in his sock Monkey bed. 

Baby Daisy, sleeping in an odd place, as usual!

Both babies in their kitty bed.

Monkey loved this monkey toy.  He would carry it all over the place and it was nearly as big as him.

A larger Monkey, eating with his brother Weasley.  He's eyeing Weasley's food cause it might be better than his.

A grumpy Daisy face.

Monkey trying out a leash.  We're keeping them indoor cats.  We do let him out on the porch now without the leash and he stays pretty close.

The babies are now full sized cats.  They still like to cuddle together.  Daisy still looks grumpy when we bug her, as you can see here. lol

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Nap Time!

There is nothing so refreshing as a nap.  Whether it's short or long it feels so good.  I can come home from a crazy day at work, eat a little dinner and then lie back in my broken recliner and drift off into a much needed nap.  Sometimes I only get a few minutes in before some type of interruption like the phone or a barking dog.
Other times I can sleep for two hours solid and wake up amazed that I slept that long but greatly refreshed.

I think that everyone should be allowed a little nap, daily.  Just to calm an overloaded mind, or rest a tired body.  I've tried to incorporate nap time into work, but for some reason that hasn't gone over too well with management, although my coworkers like the idea.  If I could squeeze a short nap into my 30 minute lunchtime I think it would work, but the break room is a little too busy and the storage closets don't have enough room to lie down.

So, for now I'll just have to be happy with a nap at home, in my favorite recliner with my soft fuzzy blanket. Mmmm  Perfect!

Monday, October 14, 2013

I love the dollar aisle!

Whenever I go to my local Target I have to make sure I pass through the dollar aisle.  There's something about finding some little treasure or another for a dollar that just makes my day.  Sure, I could go to the dollar store and find a whole bunch of treasures for that price, but it just isn't the same to me.

At Target I might find some of the sticky note pads or shopping lists in my favorite Hello Kitty designs.  Or I might find the perfect little gadget to toss in someone's stocking at Christmas time.  I've found pens and calendars or assorted holiday decorations, all for just one dollar each!  One time I bought a bunch of those microfiber dust mitts.  I love those things!

The same goes for my grocery store, when it has dollar days.  They'll have a bunch of bins with kitchen and household gadgets for a dollar each, although sometimes they try to trick me and they're more like two or three dollars, so I have to be careful!  It's just not the same if it costs more than a dollar.

When I get home after making these purchases I am excited to add them to my notepad stock pile or put them in my kitchen gadget drawer.  I feel like I've gotten such a good deal!  I think that's what it's all about.  Feeling the satisfaction of getting a good deal!


Sunday, October 13, 2013

Our life is full of Beans!

Our second pound puppy arrived a few years back. I had been thinking of getting a second dog to keep our Pomeranian, Zeke company.  We'd been making visits to the Humane Society but not necessarily to bring home another dog.  One such day I said to my daughters as we arrived at the local shelter "We're only bringing home another dog if we find a female black pomeranian."  We entered the small dog room and there was a male black pom mix.  He looked kind of dejected.  Not like the other very happy, overly excitable pom mix puppy.  This black pom was 3.5 years old and named Prince.  We decided, as he quietly watched us with his big dark eyes, that he was going to be the next member of our household.  We made the arrangements for the meet and greet between him and our other dog, for the next day.

I was a little worried as we arrived the following day because Zeke hadn't been around many other dogs and I didn't know how he'd react to this new guy.  To our amazement, they seemed to take to each other fairly well and so we went home with another little dog.  

After much thought, our daughters decided on the name Beans.  Don't ask me why, we just didn't think the name Prince fit him and Beans did.

It took a few days before Zeke and Beans seemed to bond.  Zeke is definitely my guy, so he gets a little jealous if anyone invades his space by me.  They wrestled a bit but seemed to get along pretty well.

Beans fit right in with our routine.  If someone is taking a nap or sleeping in, Beans is right there with them.  He loves car rides and seems to get along with most everyone.  They warned us that he didn't like cats and we do have cats, but he never seemed violent towards them.  More like he regards them as something to chase.  Especially if they are slinking past him.  There's something about a slinking cat that really gets his attention!

Beans is not a beggar, at least not like Zeke.  He'll lie patiently on the floor at dinnertime, waiting for any scrap that Dad might throw his way.

Beans is usually a little love but he can get snarly or snappy on certain occasions.  One of these occasions is when he's sleeping.  He's fine if you want to pet him, but if you try to move him you're going to get snapped at.  I know.  He likes to go to bed early with my husband and sleep on my side of the bed.  When I come to bed he doesn't want to move and lets me know.  Luckily my husband, whom Beans adores, can just pull him over to his side without any fuss as Beans gives me the evil eye.  He also doesn't like being poked and prodded at the vet.  He doesn't like us to cut any mats off of him, so we make sure we let the groomer deal with that.

Beans can spot a pill a mile away.  We try to hide it in food and he'll eat around it.  I have to cut it into several extremely small pieces and hide it in wet food, while I continue to give him more food at the same time.  He'll be so busy trying to finish his food, so he gets more that he'll eat those small pieces.

Beans also thinks he can take on any dog no matter what size.  He gets along great with Zeke but he wants to rip apart the big dogs across the street.

Another thing with Beans is he's not that smart.  He will sit on command and he's pretty good at catching treats when you toss him one but any other tricks just seem beyond his comprehension.  I really think he's probably smarter than all of us.  He knows that all he has to do is sit there while Zeke does every trick in the book and then if he raises his paw half an inch off the floor we'll give him a treat too.  After all we can't give Zeke a treat and not Beans.  Right?  He's also trained us that if we want a good nights rest we'd better have a bowl of water and food in our room, since they sleep in there with us.  If not, around midnight, he'll make an obnoxious growling noise that gets louder and more persistent until you can't ignore it.  All because he needs a midnight snack.  Yes, I know we should train them better but we're lazy.
Another thing that Beans has done is train my husband to walk them when he tells him to.  My hubby used to walk them at about 9:30 pm.  One day Beans decided they needed to start walking at 8:30.  He would bark and jump up until hubby gave in and took them out.  Before long the walk barking started at 8 and then 7:30, 7 and now sometimes even before 6 pm.  I say to my husband, why don't you wait until you're ready and he'll say "I'm sure Beans needs to poop, so I have to take him now."  You can tell who's trained who...

Ever since we brought him home he's done something that I think maybe he learned from his previous owner.  When someone comes home he runs as fast as he can to get a toy, preferably a soft material squeaky toy.  Then he'll come running with it in his mouth squeaking it nonstop.  He'll just run past you back and forth squeaking the toy.  It's so funny if  you look in the window as you're on the porch, unlocking the door you will see Beans dart off as fast as he can to find a toy.  If he can't find it in one direction he'll run past and look in the other.

He might be a grumpy little guy, but we love our Beans.  He makes us smile and he's been a wonderful addition to our family.  We can't imagine life without him.  Here's a few photos of our little guy.

This is shortly after he joined our family.  He's put on some weight, since then, due to too many treats and midnight snacks!
Beans and Zeke having fun in the snow.


Happy Brothers!

As you noticed, we don't have too many pictures of Beans on his own because Zeke always wants to be the star of the show. 

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Relaxing seaside in Seaside!

Every year or two for nearly 30 years I've spent some time in Seaside Oregon.  It is always a great vacation, relaxation, destination!  We stay at the same Motel that has charming cottages or ocean view condominiums to stay in.  We love the ocean view and the easy access to the ocean, since it's right outside your window!
It also has a great boardwalk that you walk along the beachfront to the town, where there are some great shops, activities and restaurants.
This is the view from our room.

We usually went to Seaside in the summer but the last two years we've gone  in late September and it was the ideal time.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous.  The crowds were greatly diminished.  Peace and quiet were easily found.

One of the things I associate with Seaside is delicious, fresh seafood.  The first thing we do is go to the fresh fish market and pick up some delicious salmon jerky.  Usually a pound or two will do it.  I also have to have one of their crab cocktails and my family usually likes the shrimp cocktails.
Yum!  This is the peppered salmon jerky.  They also have teriyaki and plain.  I would've included a picture of my crab cocktail but I ate it too fast!

Most evenings we eat dinner at our favorite restaurant Norma's.  Great seafood!  My mouth waters just thinking about it!   After dinner we spend time in our room either playing family games like yahtzee or racko or watching TV as we watch the sunset.  We're usually munching on the great salt water taffy we pick up at the Candy man store.  They have so many flavors of salt water taffy to choose from.  I just usually grab a big  plastic bag and start down each row grabbing small handfuls of the flavors that sound good to me.  That's usually a lot of flavors!
One of the beautiful sunsets!
The next morning we head out to one of our recent finds, thanks to the in room local sights guide.  This place is called Camp 18.  It is a fascinating restaurant, gift store and old logging memorabilia museum all rolled up into one.  The food is fabulous!  They serve lumberjack portions and that means big!  I've had the cinnamon roll both times and I can only finish about half of it.  This time, as we were preparing to leave I saw a guy get one of their burgers and it was so big that it was held together with a large knife!  I'm getting one of those next time!
The very large ceiling beam.  This picture doesn't do it justice. That was one really big tree!
The antler chandelier.


The fun games they have at the tables for you to play while you wait.  This was a real brain buster.

The cinnamon roll.  That's not a saucer it's on.  That is a full size dinner plate!


This guy couldn't believe the size of that cinnamon roll either!
This is the first receipt I've received that told me to "please pay at the stump"!

This is the stump.  It is large enough for the cashier to stand inside of it while she rings up our bill.
After our large breakfast we headed down to Tillamook to visit our favorite cheese factory.  We decided to take a different route.  Big mistake!  It was very twisty and not the best road to take when your stomach is overloaded.  I haven't felt car sick in a very long time but I know that my daughter and I were feeling a little green by the time we got there forty something long miles later!  Thanks to the fresh air streaming in from our open windows we managed to keep it together and felt good enough to actually look at cheese when we arrived.  After picking up some cheese to take back to our room and later home, we headed back.

 The rest of our stay consisted of my husband and daughter going down to the ocean and to the aquarium in Seaside.  I stayed in the room reading my good book and watching people with dogs going back and forth to the beach.  There was one old dog that walked so slowly and stiffly, but you could just see the joy on his face each time he went down to the ocean.  His owner walked slowly by his side as his little dog buddy trotted ahead of them.  It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.  There are a lot of dogs at the ocean!  We don't bring ours for a few reasons.  No dogs at that motel and one of our dogs doesn't like car rides.  Plus they are both little barkers and I'm not sure how good they'd be in a motel.  Relaxation, in this case, means watching other people and their dogs.

The next morning we packed up and headed home just as the rains moved in.  Perfect timing!  The flat tire just as we drove out of town was also perfect timing, since there was a Les Schwab's right there and they fixed our tire for free in no time and we were on our way!  Good times and memories were made!

Friday, October 11, 2013

The Lure of the Local Casino.

In the distant past I have enjoyed vacationing in Las Vegas or Reno.  They were fun destinations, not just because of gambling but there was entertainment, great food and local attractions to visit.  Sure, I would gamble but it was included in my planned vacation expenses.

Several years ago, sometime in the mid 90's, a small casino opened locally.  My husband and I had heard  about it and decided to go out there and check it out.  I was very disappointed.  First it looked like it was in a large tent.  The machines weren't the same as in Nevada where you put in your coins and pull the handle and hope a bunch of coins spill out.  You bought some type of pull tab type thing that you fed into the machine and then played off of it.  The buffet was a line of roped off tables running down through the middle of this tent.  Needless to say I wasn't impressed with the experience and didn't want to go back.  Unless it was a "real" casino I wasn't interested!

Fast forward several years to 2010.  My sister and Mom decided to take my daughter to that same old local casino for her 21st birthday.  I wasn't interested in going.  I still had that mental picture of how it looked the one time I had been there.  After thinking it over I decided to go along and see what it was like now.  After all it was my daughter's birthday! Was I ever amazed!  This was a big casino.  No more tent!  It had restaurants, bars a hotel and lots and lots of machines.  You walk in and it looks like something you'd find in Reno or Vegas!  I was thrilled!

You still didn't feed coins in and pull the handle but at least you could put your own money in and then cash out and carry that little ticket around, which is actually easier than a big bucket of coins.

That was the beginning of numerous trips to our local casino and even venturing out to other casinos within an hour or so drive.  We would go there for a fairly inexpensive but delicious dinner at their deli or buffet.  We would play a few dollars and hope for the elusive "big" jackpot and then we'd go home.  It became our local entertainment.

No I haven't become a gambling addict.  I would hate to become one of those many gamblers I see that win a $1000 jackpot or larger and don't even bat an eye because it's not that big of a deal to them.  I get excited when I win $20 and you should've seen my face when I won a $400 jackpot! I go with a budget and don't spend more than what I plan, usually.  I don't withdraw more money out of the ATM.  If I win a jackpot I cash out and hit the road before I spend it all trying to win more.  More often than not I don't win that jackpot so, if the machines are tight I lose the desire to go back for a while until the craving for some of their delicious Pho hits me.  They really do have good food!

Last summer my husband and I drove down to Reno for the first time in 13 years.  We had a good time but this time I was disappointed at how it compared to our casino, back home.  The machines were older and worn.  The food wasn't that great.  My own bed was more comfy.  Next time maybe we'll just spend the night at one of the casino resorts nearby and save a lot of money and a numb butt from all of that driving, although I really did like those jumbo frozen margaritas! :o)

Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Power of Scents.

I'm not much of a perfume person for a few reasons.  First of all my husband doesn't really like perfumes, so it's better I don't wear them.  I also work in a scent free environment, so that's another good reason to not wear perfume.  Lastly, over the years, I've grown sensitive to a lot of perfumes.  I'd rather not wear something that's going to make me sneeze or my nose run.

This doesn't mean that I'm against scented products.  I love fruit or soft floral scented shower gels, candles, lotions or air fresheners.  The smell of fruit scented body washes perk me up in the morning.  Nothing like a little blackberry or lime body wash to get me invigorated.  Just breathing in those scents makes me feel a little more awake.

My favorite cucumber melon hand lotion not only keeps my hands soft, it helps calm me while I'm rubbing it in at work and that's a very good thing!

My fruit or other food scented plug in air fresheners or candles, make me stop and breathe in and say "awww".  It's somehow soothing to smell fresh baked pumpkin pie or peach sorbet. 

I wash my hands with scented soaps like apple, plum or coconut.  The house not only smells nice but my hands do too.  I look forward to one bottle emptying so I can open the next bottle and see what that scent smells like.

It amazes me how the right scent can stop you in your tracks, for a few seconds at least, and make you clear your mind of everything except how good it smells.  Maybe it has something to do with the food scents, since I do love to eat or maybe it's just because it's something familiar and that makes me feel good.




Wednesday, October 9, 2013

My Purse Must Haves.

I feel naked without my purse.  Yes, it contains things like keys, cell phone and payment methods but it also contains other things I just can't do without.   Here's a list of those must haves:

Kleenex!  I can't set foot outside without Kleenex.  My nose runs frequently at places like the grocery store.  I have no idea why, it just does and I really would rather not wipe it on my sleeve.

Hand lotion.  I can not stand dry hands, so lotion is a must!

Hand sanitizer. I hadn't really thought of carrying that around much, until I started noticing how many times people leave the restroom without washing their hands.  When I'm at the casino and think of all of those unwashed hands that have touched the machine before me, then I need some hand sanitizer ASAP!

My eyeglass cleaning cloth.  I can't stand having dirty glasses.

A pen.  I have to cross off all of those things on my shopping lists or for writing those notes I mention below.

Some type of notebook.  I'm always thinking of something I need to write down.

Comb, although if you ever see my hair you'll notice I rarely use it.

Lip balm.  I am a lip balm freak.  I can not stand dry lips, so I always have a lip balm on me.  My purse, pocket, night stand, desk and so on always have lip balm at the ready.  No dry cracked lips for me!

Small first aid kit.  The kind that you can just slip into a side pocket that has about 2 bandaids and a little antiseptic wipe.  You never know when you might need a bandaid.

That pretty much sums up the must haves.  That doesn't mean that's all I have in my purse.  There are other things thrown in just in case and probably a lot of lint from those Kleenexes.


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Choosing paint colors. Not an easy task! Remodel part I

We are remodeling our living room for the first time in forever.  We've lived here nearly 30 years and we've painted once and changed carpet once, so this is a big thing.  We have wood paneling on 2 of  the walls, which my husband happily removed this last weekend.
Now for the hard part...choosing a paint color that I can live with until we paint again, which may be a long time considering how long it took this time.  I've decided that I'm tired of the old neutral off white shade that we so often paint our main living spaces.  I want color!
I had pretty much decided I wanted a bright but light shade of green.  While I was sick with the cold crud and being extra lazy, my husband and daughter decided to go to Lowe's.  She came home with several of those little paint color cards.  So many shades of green!  Then my eyes fell on one color.  It was more of a teal color and I thought "this is it!!!".
The next week I went with my daughter to Lowe's to bring home some of those little containers of sample paint so we could paint them on the wall and see what looked best.
When I saw all of the many, many, many paint colors I was in awe!  I swear I heard heavenly music play!
I flitted between all of the color options, looking mostly at the blue greens, until we chose 4 that we decided to  test.
I handed these color cards to the paint mixer employee and she mixed them up in no time and we headed home to test them out on one of the bare walls.
My daughter painted large squares of the 4 colors while I supervised.  We stared at them until we had narrowed it down to our two favorite shades and then we decided on the one we liked best.
Here are the four colors we chose to test.  We decided on the upper left color.

After looking at those paint splotches for a couple of days I suddenly decided I wanted to go back to my original plan of green.  The above colors made me think of a bedroom or bathroom.
Tomorrow we'll choose some other colors and bring home some more samples.  Then I will force myself to choose the color we're going with.  Something light and peaceful like green or maybe the light purples, roses, peaches...so many colors!!!

Stay tuned for more remodeling installments.  It's going to get messy!


Monday, October 7, 2013

Ghost Hunters

I have a fascination with ghosts.  I've watched many ghost hunting shows but the only one that holds my attention is Ghost Hunters.  I've watched it practically from the start.  The cast is serious, when it comes to proving or disproving that a site is haunted.
I love the way the cast interacts with each other.  They have fun but get the job done.  The only thing I wish is that they would spend more than a few hours at a site.
 I've often thought it would be fun to go with them on location, but I'm not really sure if I could make it through an investigation without something truly humiliating happening to me and I'm not talking about screaming.  I would probably need a Depends.
I don't know where this ghost fascination came from because I'm one of the biggest chickens around.  I scare myself all of the time just thinking of scary scenarios.  I don't actually know if I want to see a ghost myself or just see some definite proof of one.  Would I even believe it if I did see one myself or think it was just a flash of light reflecting off of my glasses?
Getting back to the show Ghost Hunters, I think they've shown some proof of it in several of their episodes.  Spine tingling video footage or creepy voices or worse yet the screams or moans.  I shiver just thinking of them.  That episode at the lighthouse where the apparition looks down on them over the railing!  Or the one where a shadow figure seemed to dart back and forth behind a pool table...there's something about those fast moving shadows that really scares the heck outta me!  YIKES!!!
Yes, there are doubters who think that they fake those things to keep people interested in the show, BUT if they are faking why are there some really dull episodes where they don't even have many experiences at all?

I like the show because everyone works together.  There are no grand standers like Zak on Ghost Adventures.  I really like Nick and Aaron but Zak is a camera hog and I've stopped watching the show because of him.  That's too bad because I did get some laughs out of some of their antics, especially Aaron, but I can only stand so much of Zak and I think I've reached my limit.

That brings me to the show that started my love of ghost hunting.  Most Haunted was a British ghost hunting show.   I must say I looked forward to all of the episodes for a while but the repetition made me weary. Yvette Fielding would be screaming about something whispering in her ear.  Derek, one of the psychics they used, was always becoming possessed, complete with creepy or weird voices.  They had lots of seances with everyone getting chills or touched and the women sometimes getting hysterical.  So when Ghost Hunters started I eagerly latched onto it and have never been disappointed.
Even when they don't really find anything, that I would call substantial, the show is still entertaining.  The pairing up of Steve and Tango always makes me laugh!  When Grant left the show I was seriously worried that it wouldn't be the same, but it is just as good if not better, although I do miss Grant!  I like the format they have now and they seem to have more episodes and less downtime.

So, if I want to do some ghost hunting you'll find me in my comfy recliner watching an episode of Ghost Hunters.  I still get the chills and thrills without the humiliation.

 New episodes start Wednesday October 9th!  Yay!

http://www.syfy.com/ghosthunters/

Sunday, October 6, 2013

My Buddy Zeke

In the fall of 2005 my daughter and I started visiting the Humane Society regularly in search of the perfect  dog.  My large retriever mix, Sugar had died several months before and we were ready for a new dog in our lives.  This time we decided we would try to find a small lap type dog.  We spent several weeks looking at all of the homeless dogs.  It was kind of heartbreaking but none of them really seemed like the dog I wanted.   Finally one afternoon, after searching through the small dog room without any success, we decided to go into the large dog kennel just to look.  My daughter immediately called me over to a cage where two small dogs were housed together.  One was a cute pug looking dog, that said it wasn't available and the other was a cute little rust colored guy that was labeled as a Pomeranian.  The minute we set eyes on this guy we knew he was the one.  I immediately grabbed his slip, before the other family lurking nearby could and took it to the desk.  Several dollars later, he was not a cheap pound puppy, he was officially ours.  We weren't able to take him home for a couple days because he needed to be neutered.

This adorable little approximately 6 month old guy became known as Zeke.  My husband named him that.  I'm not quite sure why the name he chose was Zeke but we went with it.
 Here's a picture of Zeke shortly after we got him home.  He's in his new bed and chewing on a nummy treat, one of many, many treats he now insists on multiple times a day.
Zeke soon became a beloved member of our family and Mommy's little buddy.  He got along with our cats and was friendly towards everyone!
 He is very smart and quickly learned multiple tricks, that my daughters taught him.  Sit, lie down, roll over, dance, shake, high-five, speak and how to wrap everyone, especially Dad, around his little claw.
Zeke also learned to do a move that we call squiggle.  He'll lie on his tummy with his back paws straight out behind him and then he'll kind of do pushups with his front paws.  This means that he wants to play with whomever he's squiggling at.  Unfortunately, most animals, that he squiggles at, do not like it.  They either run away in terror or look at him wondering what the heck he's doing.

A couple things Zeke does not like are car rides and me leaving the house.  The minute I get my going out of the house shoes on and grab my purse he's whining and barking.  Sometimes he'll pick up toys or his bed and whip my legs with them.  Sometimes another animal gets in the way and gets whipped with said bed or toy.  When I come home, whether I've been gone for hours or just a couple minutes, he'll be so excited you'd think he'd hadn't seen me for days.  It does make me feel good that he misses me.

As I've said before, Zeke loves treats!  When we walk through the house, him usually leading the way, he'll stop in front of the treat drawer and look longingly at it.  If I make homemade soup and have  ham bones in it I'll give him a little one and as soon as he's done with it he'll run back to the kitchen and drop it on the floor hoping he can trade the old one for a brand new one.

He is not perfect.  He begs at the table, only from my husband because he can't say no.  *sigh*  He jumps on visitors legs when they come and go and of course he barks as only a small dog can.

I can easily overlook any imperfections he has because he's my sweetie.  He's always there for me.  I don't want to think of him getting older or worse, so I try my best not to.  I will enjoy every minute I have with him, even when he goes into a barking fit while I'm trying to watch my favorite show, or talk on the phone or take a recliner nap.  Or when he runs in soaking wet from his walk with Dad and jumps up onto my lap to show me how wet he is.  Those are the things that make me smile and love him all the more.

Zeke loves lying in the sun!

Taking a rest with his kitty friend, Weasley.

Looking sharp after a trip to the groomer!