One of my obsessions

I love to go to open houses. Even though we have our own house, I still like to see what's out there. Every time there is a home show or a tour of new homes going on I drag J to see them. He isn't Mr. Handyman so he's not real thrilled about the home shows. But the home tours he digs. If you have never been to one it's a neat thing to do. It usually costs you but it's under 10 bucks and you get some great ideas. The one we went to over the weekend was so much fun. One of the houses was a charity house and part of the proceeds from the sale went to Make a Wish Foundation.
I've been debating on the color that I want to paint my kitchen since the day I moved in. I so can't wait to get rid of the apple and birdhouse wallpaper and drab tan walls. Since my kitchen, dining room, and family room all are one big room, it's been hard to find just the right color. I've been leaning towards a soft butter yellow and redoing the cabinets white. But then I toured one of the homes and totally changed my mind. The last house on the tour had a spectacular kitchen/great room that was painted a soft turquoise that just screamed "This is it!" The builder was standing right there and dumb ass me didn't even think to ask him what the color was. But I think I'm hitting it pretty close here. They are all pretty close color palette wise, but I'm not quite sure which one I like better. I would still paint the cabinets white. And once we get the hardwood floors in the whole area would look so different. J is all for the idea. But I think he would agree to anything if it makes me happy.



































While we are on the subject of houses, we finally got a quote from the insurance people about the roof. Of course they are not going to pay for an entire new roof, and only for the shingles that needed replaced. Less than $1000.00. Minus our deductible, that means they only paid around $300.00. The roofers are going to come out for another look this week. Insurance said if the roofers feel like more damage was done than insurance quoted then we can dispute. We'll see what happens.

Friday Night

I think I have mentioned before that Friday nights we usually eat out. The "where do you want to eat" discussion begins on Friday morning and continues throughout the day. By the time we both get home from work we are usually still debating. Sometimes we just say screw it and order pizza. It seems like it always falls on me on where we are eating. So last night J actually decided he wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse. Now, I have issues with steakhouse chain restaurants. It seems like every time I go to one I end up not eating because I'm sending back my steak two or three times and then not eating because my stomach can't handle it anymore. So I hesitantly agreed. We had gone there once before and I didn't really care for it but I'm willing to give it another try. Somehow line dancing in the aisle next to me while I'm eating just doesn't make for a pleasant dining experience. Anywoo, I ordered sirloin tips because how much can you screw those up? I always order well done just because well done to "chefs" that work the grill in any of those chain restaurants means medium well to me. The description of the dinner said it was served with a "gravy" and I took that to mean a light coating. When dinner came it looked like you needed to throw a life preserver to those tips. Talk about drowning. See that "gravy" on those mashed tater in the picture? Imagine sirloin tips swimming in that? It wasn't pretty. The peppers and onions that came with it were buried under all that and the rice was half gravied also. I cut into a piece of "tip" and of course it was mooing. I'm sorry, but sirloin tips drowning in gravy to me is beef stew. I took one bit and pushed the plate away. It completely turned my stomach. I looked over at J and he had this strange look on his face. He had ordered the same thing and wasn't enjoying it either. When the server came by to ask how everything was I told her why I wasn't eating. I wasn't mean about it at all. She brought the manager over and of course had to tell her. She comped my meal of course. J left almost half of his meal so you know it wasn't good. B said hers was OK but the veggies were dry and she ended up not eating those. So needless to say, we won't be going back there again. When we got home I made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So much for dinner. I guess I'll stick to cooking my steaks at home.

Killing Time

I'm back to unloading the truck at work. Notice the time? It's 2:45 am. That's right. I'm loading up on the coffee and going for a 6 hour power shot. Those things can be lifesavers. I don't like the taste of energy drinks and those power shots were made for me. Down it in one quick swallow and I'm good to go.
We ended up going to Lowe's last night and buying another deadbolt for the front door. AGAIN! We haven't seen R since last Friday so I'm going to just say that he's moved out AGAIN. I'm not going to assume anything though. You know what they say about that one. Anyway, he's had a chance to call, which he hasn't. I am done with the whole situation. I've tried to help him but he thinks he can do everything his way. OK, then let him do it his way because my way obviously isn't the way he wants to do it. I think we are going to turn his bedroom into an exercise/game room.

The insurance adjuster finally called yesterday and he will be out tomorrow or Saturday. I'm getting this feeling that we are not going to be getting the whole roof redone like we are hoping for. Sigh. Oh well.

I'm so ready for vacation. 2 more weeks. No painting this time, maybe just some fall yard work. We are taking one day and heading for Michigan, but no other plans. Our anniversary is on the 11th, but we can't plan anything big because, guess what? Homecoming is that day. So I'm going to be running around trying to get B's hair and makeup done. She's going with friends this time, so no flowers to buy. I might just go out and get her a little wrist corsage just because.
After vacation I won't get a break until after the silly season is over. Retail sucks this time of year. I don't know I continue to work this way. I guess I like the money too much! Ha!

Update

I found the diamond to my ring. Or rather my daughter did. It was in the clothes basket with her clean clothes. Now it won't cost so much to get it fixed. I really didn't feel like poop excavating. Yippeeeee!

I'm Bored

I'm home by myself, for once. And I have nothing to do. My house is sorta clean and I'm in the middle of laundry. I'm not ready to start on dinner, which is going to be baked chicken, Au gratin potatoes from a box, and asparagus spears with hollandaise. Pretty simple.

My day started out pretty good and then went downhill. I took Daisy to the dog groomer since I'm a chickenshit when it comes to cutting her nails. I let the professionals deal with that. It's only 8 bucks and I'd rather pay that than lose my sanity. So I brought her back home and headed back out to the grocery store. Came back, ate lunch and started on the laundry. Of course B always leaves her clothes in the dryer so while I'm switching the laundry the dog and the cat decide they want to fight right where the dryer is. So I'm trying to unload her laundry, get in between the dog and cat, and getting my stuff started when I catch my diamond ring on the door to the dryer. Out pops one of the diamonds. And I can't find it anywhere. No, it's not my engagement/wedding ring. It's the one I just got fixed last December for the same problem. One big issue though. The jewelry store went out of business. Which means the protection plan we purchased with the ring is no longer valid. I'm not quite sure who to contact. Better Business Bureau maybe? I'm not upset as I was last time it happened though. J called when I was on my hands and knees looking for this tiny diamond. He said not to worry about it and he'll buy my another one when tax time comes around. I knew I married this man for a reason! Ha! Anyway, I think the dog ate the diamond and I don't think I'm going to look for it when it comes out the other end.

I finally found an outfit to wear to this wedding we are going to next weekend. I hate to shop for clothes. If I was way skinny I would probably love it, but right now I'm very critical of myself. I think I look fat in everything. But this it very cute and doesn't make me look all that bad. I bought this shirt but in purple/black instead of green/brown.

These pants, which are so comfortable!

And these shoes. Aren't they cute?

J really likes it so I guess I did OK. Plus I bought something to suck it all in. And really cute jewelry

Gotta love Kohl's! I spent a little more than I normally do but I don't buy myself anything fancy very often. I'm more of a jeans and T-shirt type of girl. J has only seen my in one dress and that has been my wedding dress. And I only had that sucker on for 1/2 hour at most. I used to be the most dressed up girlie-girl you could ever meet. I got away from that when I had kids. Just wasn't practical. Baby spit up doesn't work on expensive clothes. And back then I absolutely didn't have the money to run out and buy me a new outfit all the time. Now I'm frugal and don't really see any point to spend a whole lot of money on something I'll most likely wear only once or twice. I do dig the shoes though. I will probably get some use out of them.

My laundry is beeping so that means I'm done for now. Maybe I'll get lucky and find that diamond.

A Busy Week

It's been a tough week. We finally got an estimate for the roof. $6000.00! Holy Chit! The insurance adjuster hasn't been here yet. I'm getting a little frustrated with the whole thing. I understand that I'm just one of the many that has storm damage. I understand that it takes a while. But I'm getting tired of the "I'll call you by the end of the day" speech. I think I heard that every day last week. J got up on the roof and took more pictures and while he was up there he discovered something else.

Notice anything missing?

The top of the chimney that protects it from rain and animals is gone. No use trying to find that sucker. It's probably miles away. So it's just one more thing to add to the insurance claim. The $6000.00 is for an entire new roof and I hope the insurance will let that happen. If not, I guess we repair what we can. We have yet to call about the chimney though. I should probably do that tomorrow.

I've been trying to get a little decorating done for Halloween. I did a little outside but just can't seem to get into it too much right now.

I bought Daisy a costume and she hates it! Poor doggie!

I found the most yummy pumpkin cookie recipe ever! So easy!

1 box spice cake mix
1 small can pumpkin

That's it! Mix together and drop like regular cookies at 350 for 15 minutes. I added chocolate chips to these. I'm a sucker for anything made out of pumpkin.

The aftermath

Sunday was one of those days that makes you shake your head and say "what the f ?" I have never been through anything like that. We usually get the rain that comes with a hurricane and that's just the tail end. Being in Ohio we just don't see a whole lot of full on hurricane winds. But boy did we see them Sunday. We were actually on our way home from my parents house which is two hours away and ended up driving through it. I'm glad J was driving and not me. It was all he could do to stay on the road. Cornstalks flying across the interstate, plastic bags flying everywhere and stupid drivers. We had Daisy with us and she was a basket case, poor doggie. Trying to hide and no place to go. All the while I'm thinking that my kids are out in this mess. R was at X-Fest and B was staying with one of her girlfriends. Cell phone lines were messed up and I couldn't call anyone. So luckily we made it home. To this.......

And this...

My poor flowers :(

So luckily, we only lost a few shingles and had some major branch cleanup to do yesterday. My neighbor next door lost some siding on his enclosed porch and the neighbor across the street lost some serious shingles and siding. We filed a claim with insurance and are waiting to hear back from them on when they can come out and take a look at the roof. I'm sure that they are extremely busy so I'm not mad that they can't do it right away. If it was raining it would be a different story. I can't go to work because we have no power and our backup generator failed. So as of right now I'm on hiatus. They are saying it could be this weekend before power is restored. I took a drive around town yesterday to see some of the damage and it's bad. I only went to one side of town and they do have power so I'll take a trip on the other side today and see what's going on. And to top it off, J has the sickness that I had last week, poor guy. He took yesterday off to start the insurance thing going and is taking today off too.

I just want to say that I never want to go through that again. I could never live somewhere in the hurricane belt. Bless those who do.

September 11

I'm not going to be one of those people who sit and boohoo about September 11. Yes it was a tragedy. But I'm not one to dwell on things. It happened. I've dealt with it in my own way. And I moved on. I didn't even know what happened until 3 hours later. I was working midnight shift and I was sleeping. I woke up to the last ring of the phone and the answering machine kicking on. I wasn't ready to get out of bed yet but figured I would at least see who called. It was my brother and he had left the strangest message. He said that he was alright and he was trying to find a flight out of Florida. I really didn't think into it too hard because he travels all the times. I made myself a pot of coffee and sat down to the newspaper and a cigarette. The phone rang again and when I answered it, my friend asked me if I was watching the TV. When I said no, that I had just woke up, she started to cry and said to turn it on. That's when I found out. I spent the day at my friends' house watching the news and I remember everyone starting to panic about gasoline. I confess I did wait in line an hour for gas. It was on that day that I really started to dislike George Bush. It's been 7 years and can anyone tell us where Bin Laden is? I bet George Bush knows.
So, yes, I remember. I don't need someone sending me email telling me not to forget. I don't need the graphic pictures. I don't need to forward it to a whole bunch of people. I'm sure they remember too. They don't need for me to remind them.

Dinner Tonite

I wanted to stick this into a different post for a couple of reasons. For one, I don't think posting a recipe in with a post about my dog barfing is appetizing. For two, I think it warrants a post for itself because it's so darn good!

I'm not a tomato person. I like them, sure, but I have to be in the mood for them. I disliked them when I was little. I would eat my spaghetti with butter only, no sauce. It all goes back to when I was about 8 or 9 months old and I became allergic to some kind of protein in milk and other foods. My whole body turned into one big red blotch. All I could eat was rice cereal and drink goat's milk. So I never learned to like certain foods. No kind of picnic foods such as potato or macaroni salad and baked beans, no ketchup, mustard or pickles. I eventually learned to like tomatoes though. I'll eat them on a hamburger or if you cut them up in small pieces, on a salad. I will eat spaghetti sauce though. And salsa if it's made fresh. I don't like the jarred stuff very well. So when I first went to Chipolte I rejoiced when I discovered corn salsa. And I do love corn. I searched all over the Internet for this recipe and finally found it. I've tweaked it a little for my own taste.

Corn Salsa

1 small bag frozen corn. (You can use fresh if you want to take the trouble of cutting it off the cob.)
1/4 red pepper diced fine

1/4 red onion diced fine

1/2 small can chopped jalapenos (or 1 small fresh)

Chopped FRESH cilantro, about 2 sprigs (Please don't use dried, it's not the same believe me)

1 lime

1 can of black beans (optional)

Thaw and drain corn

Add all other ingredients. Juice lime and add. I add the lime pulp. Gives it a little kick.

Let sit in the refrigerator several hours to let flavors meld. Serve with tortilla chips or Frito's

I'm not a bean lover, so I skip that part. But go ahead if you are, I'm sure it's really tasty.

Happy Salsa!

Home Again

I'm sick again. It's the head cold from hell. I woke up yesterday with it, sneezing continuously, dripping nose and head feeling like a basketball. I manage to stay at work for a whole two hours before my boss told me I sounded terrible and go on home. He got no argument from me. I still didn't feel right this morning so I'm taking an extra day off just so I don't spread my germs to the whole town.

Explain to me how one little dog can be so destructive? I can't find any kind of toy that she won't mutilate. Give her ten minutes and this is what happens to the thing:

This thing never stood a chance. I don't know why I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe, I'll buy a toy for this dog without her ripping it to shreds in 10 minutes. Of course she upchucked the stuffing 20 minutes later. It wasn't pretty.

Of course I should be grateful she eats that instead of this one. This is Asia's refuge. On my counter. Don't ask me why she thinks a sink full of water is so fascinating. But she will sit for hours and stare at the water if I left it in the sink.

The last couple of mornings I have got up to take the dog out and either Asia or Daisy has gotten a hold of a cricket. I have no idea how they are getting in my house. Of course they are legless and I keep finding cricket legs all the place. I guess I should be grateful that they kill them. Who knows how many they've killed that I don't know about.

I Love Fall Part Deux

I'm beginning to sound a little redundant. But today is the type of day when you know that fall is in the air. It's nice and breezy and all the windows and doors to the house are open and no one is complaining that it's "too hot". J has been bellyaching about me making chili but I have this rule about chili. I don't do it if it's 100 degrees outside. Somehow it just doesn't make sense to me. So today is the day.
I never used to like chili. Maybe it was because my mom always put those nasty kidney beans in hers. I don't do beans. Green beans, wax beans, black beans, any beans are all blech in my book. I will eat fresh green beans straight from the garden though. Maybe it's because they don't sit in a can with a whole bunch of salt. It's just a different taste. As I got older I grew to like chili and picked out the beans. Throw in a peanut butter sandwich and you got yourself a party. When I was in elementary school they used to make peanut butter sandwiches with honey mixed in and they were so good! My waistline won't allow me to eat that anymore but it brings back some good memories. Sitting in the cafeteria and trading soup for peanut butter sandwiches. So here's my recipe for my chili. By the way, I say chili, J says chili soup. Which is it?

Michelle's Chili

1 can tomato juice
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 large can of mushrooms
1 pound of ground turkey
1/2 onion diced
2 small cans kidney beans or chili beans
diced jalapeno pepper
cayenne pepper to taste
chili powder (about 2 tablespoons)
fresh ground pepper to taste
salt
Brown ground turkey and diced onion. Throw all ingredients into slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 hours and turn to low for another 2 hours. If you want to can throw in some cubed potatoes. Top with shredded cheese. Serve with peanut butter sandwiches or cornbread.

I love Fall

It's finally September. And I love Fall. But I don't like what comes after it. The smell in the air is just different when September rolls around. That's why I got married in October. One of these years I want to go up to New England in the Fall and see the colors. It looks like it's going to be an early fall here. Maybe because we haven't had any good rains since June. My poor lawn is so ugly. J won't water because he hates to pay the water bill. He says it's high enough, why add more to it? I don't argue with him because it's not something that needs to turn into a huge issue. Anyway, I digress. I'm finding such cute decorations that I'm undecided about what I want to do for the house. Do I want to do a huge Halloween thing or just skip it and go right into Thanksgiving? Our neighborhood is big on kids and Halloween and B said she wanted to hand out candy again this year. I don't know if J's sister is going to bring her kids over again this year or not. We had such a good time last year and the kids made out on the candy. Plus she's pregnant so I don't know how much walking she is going to want to do.

I found a new great store on Sunday that is jam-packed with great decorations for all holidays. It's over in Centerville and it's called The Flower Factory ( http://www.flowerfactoryinc.com/).

It's a wholesale store but they are offering the public membership for a limited time. J and I went over there and didn't even get to go through the whole store. He tends to get bored if we stay in a store too long. So I'll go back on some day that I have a whole day off to do nothing. But I did find a great tin star to hang over my fireplace. A steal at $12.50 and it's huge! Those things usually run around $30.00. They are just now putting out their Christmas stuff but I'll wait on that till after Halloween.

I'm off to make a pineapple upside down cake that I've been craving for all weekend but haven't had a chance to make yet.