Looking at the Sky on Friday - 43

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

I opened the back door this morning to take a picture of the moon – even though it was below freezing out there.  Sometimes you just have to sacrifice, right?  I think I’ll survive, though and won’t have to look at insurance advertising to be sure I’m covered.

I wish I could figure out how to get the detail on the moon as well as the hazy little clouds around it, instead of just a white circle with a little haze.

Any suggestions?

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.

$50 Unlimited Plan with Boost Mobile and the Sanyo Incognito

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.

I know all the hype the last couple of days is about that new product some fruity company unveiled, but I don't think I'll be getting one of those any time soon.  They do look cool with all the things they can do, but it's not really something I can justify right now.  Now, this new SANYO Incognito, maybe.  I mean, after all, everyone needs a cell phone, right?  There's even a government program that offers to provide people with one for free - as if they are a necessity. But, of course, that's beside the point.

Cell phones are really nice to have, and convenient.  Add all the great features this phone has, and you've really got something.  The SANYO Incognito™ SCP6760 has a 2MP camera with VGA camcorder, a music and video player, and enhanced web browsing.  It even has a full QWERTY keyboard, making it easy to send text messages and keep up with all your social networks and web browsing.  It also includes Multi-Media messaging (Picture & Video), is Stereo Bluetooth® Capable & GPS Enabled. With the $50 Monthly Unlimited Plan from Boost Mobile, you never have to worry about going over your minutes, texts, or internet bandwidth, and there are never any roaming charges because it's nationwide.  Even better, there's no contract, and no commitment.

The phone (with all this should we really still call it a phone?) sells for $129.99 (excluding taxes) with free shipping.  And, it fits in your pocket, unlike that other thing, you know the one I mean.

Another One Fixed

Jeffrey took his car in Monday to get the damage on the side fixed.  Again, I didn't see the damage.  Why do I not go out and look?  I don't know.  I really was going to, but I didn't think about it until after he had left on Monday.  Oh well, it's all fixed now.  He took it to the auto body shop montclair (in Delafield, actually) and they did what they do and got it looking like new.

Honestly I'm beginning to wonder if this car of Jeffrey's isn't some kind of magnet for problems.  Some lady hit him, part of a tree fell on the trunk, and now this ice chunk or whatever it was tossed at him by a school bus.  I guess I should just be thankful that nothing has been too serious - just irritating.  Luckily we haven't had any problems with the insurance, either.  You hear horror stories, but ours has been great.  Taking a car into the body shop isn't cheap, either.  I'm really thankful we only have to pay the $100 deductible.  However nice they are and quick to pay, I'm hoping we don't have to call them again for a long time.  Hopefully Jeffrey's car has it all out of its system and will stay out of trouble from now on.

Good Food in Branson

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

This sounds like fun. The weekend of Friday, February 26th through Saturday, February 27th the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is hosting an Italian Culinary Weekend. Friday night begins with a reception that includes antipasto and hors d’oeuvres along with great Italian wines.  Then on Saturday participants experience a hands-on cooking demonstration, and it all ends in a 5-course dinner Saturday night.  Prices start at $429 for two people, and that includes the reception, cooking school, the 5-course dinner, and a goodie bag filled with items to take home. 

Yep, sounds like fun.  The only thing is I'd have to find someone else to go with me, because I just can't see my husband doing the cooking school thing.  He's the guy who conveniently forgot how to cook anything when he married me.  Not that I'm actually complaining, because I like to cook, so it works out well.  I think Jeffrey would appreciate the food and Italian wine included in this weekend, but he'd rather get out and enjoy some of the other things Branson has to offer - like championship golf courses, for example. 

There is a lot to do in Branson, museums, live entertainment, lakes, theme parks, shopping, and more.  The Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is within easy driving distance to everything.  I just wonder how long we'd have to stay in order to see and do everything we'd like to see and do?  We might not make it for the Italian Culinary Weekend, but one of these days we'll have to find out, or at least give it a good shot.

It Smells Good in Here

I've been cooking all day - it seems like it, anyway, and I still haven't figured out what's for breakfast in the morning.  Usually I either fix something Friday or at least get it mixed up, so that Sabbath morning breakfast is really easy for me.  It might just end up being cereal or yogurt tomorrow at this rate.

I did fix Corn Lover's Veg Stew for the potluck tomorrow, and it smells so good.  I haven't had it in a while, so I'm looking forward to that.  Right now I've got Stewed Lamb cooking.  I got the recipe from My Wooden Spoon - it looked so good that I just had to try it.  I didn't have any ribs, so I'm using lamb chops, and I used a can of diced tomatoes because I didn't have fresh.  Hopefully it will turn out as good as I think it will.  I'm thinking a little Basmati rice to go with it and a salad, and we'll have a really good meal.  Neither one of the kids will be home - Beth is working until 9pm, and Cory went to a school dance with some friends.  So there is more than enough for Jeffrey and me.  We better not eat too much or we'll be looking for some nordictrack coupons or good exercise DVDs on sale - because we'll have to work all that food off somehow.

Anyway, time to go back to cooking - gotta take the lid off the lamb and get the rice started.  I wonder what kind of wine goes with stewed lamb?  I guess I'll leave that up to Jeffrey.

2010 Homebuyer Tax Credits

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Coldwell Banker. All opinions are 100% mine.

Beth keeps talking about moving out, and now she's talking about buying a house, with her boyfriend Tim, which probably isn't the best idea in the world, but she wouldn't want to hear it.  You never know, maybe things will work out for them, and they'll get over the drama and live happily ever after.  If they are going to buy a house, now would be a good time.

The government extended the First-Time Homebuyer Credits into 2010.  Not only that, but they have added credits for Move-Up Homebuyers too.  That means first time buyers or buyers who have not owned a home in the last 3 years aren't the only ones who can benefit from the tax credits now.  Current homeowners who have lived in their primary residences for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 qualify, too.

Some of the highlights of the 2010 Homebuyer Tax Credits are:

• Buyers must have a signed contract by April 30, 2010. (and close by June 30, 2010)
• Income limits are now $125,000 for singles, $225,000 for married couples.
• First-Time buyers can qualify for up to $8000 and current qualifying homeowners for up to $6500.
• The cost of the home purchased must be no more than $800,000.  (Seriously, anyone who can afford to buy a house that costs $800,000 or more doesn't really need a tax credit, does he?)
  

You can learn more about the 2010 Homebuyer Tax Credits by visiting the Coldwell Banker website and watching the video there.  I'm not always in complete agreement with all these tax credits the government keeps wanting to give out, but if what he said in the video about home sales adding jobs and putting money into the local economy is true, then this program has the potential of helping the economy more than some of the other ones seem to.

If you're thinking that now is a good time to buy a house, you can even start searching right on the site or contact an agent who will be happy to answer any questions. 

It Could Have Been Worse

...or Beth could have just driven a car with a cracked bumper.  A trip to the body shop, and the bill comes to over $1500.  Honestly, I don't know how bad it really was because I didn't look at it, but if we didn't have insurance coverage, there is no way we could've afforded to fix the car, not without 100 or so eczema treatment reviews and cell phone reviews, and links to various and sundry things.  (and you thought today was bad!)  

That $100 deductible isn't sounding so bad after all...

If It's Not One Thing, It's...

In the last couple weeks it seems there have been all kinds of extra expenses:

• A trip to the vet for Weasley to get a check-up, shots, and fixed - approximately $300
• An oven that just stopped working - approximately $300 to get it fixed
• Beth hit a coyote and cracked the bumper on the car she drives - $100 deductible
• and yesterday Jeffrey's car got hit in the side by a big chunk of ice - another $100 deductible, I'm sure

Seriously, if it's not one thing, it's another.   At least you don't have to hear me talking about diet products or fat cell mass - but I'm sure that would end up costing us, too!

Clips from Kentucky

This is slightly late, but I just wanted to post a video Cory did here. He shot a bunch of stuff in Kentucky when we were there and then edited it together for his Tuesday (1/5/10) video on the 7awesomebookworms channel on YouTube. Only a couple weeks late, right?  But  I thought it was fun.



That watch is HUGE!

The boy does a pretty good job of editing videos and all kinds of other stuff on his computers. Yes, I said computers. He's got two in his room. His dad went searching for KVM switches and found him one so that he can run both computers with one monitor. He just switches between them depending on what he wants to do.

You're Outta Here!

After my last post, you probably expected your reader to be inundated with posts, and then nothing.  I was just trying to build some anticipation!  No, not really.  I got distracted going through some old mail and recycling tons of it.  I can't believe how quickly a small pile of junk mail can grow into a huge one.  I'm sure it's not human growth hormone, but there must be some kind of mail growth hormone.  Arrrggghh!

I try to do a much better job of taking care of the mail as it comes in nowadays, but some of this was from back in 2003.  It had been put away, I'm sure with the intention that we would take care of it later, but then we never pulled it back out.  When we got our tile done, we had to move everything out of the kitchen and dining room, and then when we got the carpet stretched afterward, we moved everything in the living room.  So, a lot of things got pulled off shelves and out of cabinets then - and I am very slowly and gradually working my way through all that stuff, tossing as much as possible.  Eventually all the extra stuff will be out of here, right?

How Many is Too Many?

Image by kcmckell via Flickr

I usually don't post more than a post or two a day - sometimes three.  And some days I don't post at all.  Partially it's because I don't have time to post any more than that.  While I'm busy working around the house doing laundry, ironing, vacuuming, cooking, etc., I'm composing all kinds of posts in my head.  If blogging was as easy as thinking, I'd have tons of posts every day - and you probably would only read a small fraction of them. 

That brings me to the other reason I don't post a whole bunch of posts every day.  I know for myself that I have a hard enough time keeping up with the blogs I want to read and the wonderful people I've met online, but when someone posts more than a post or two a day, I just feel overwhelmed.  I know I'll never have time to read them all, and many times I won't read any of them, preferring to skip over them in favor of reading that one post from a blogger I haven't heard from in a while.  So, I'm hoping that if I don't overwhelm your reader (or your facebook page) you'll be more likely to read what I have to say when I say it.  Then again, maybe not - maybe that's just how I work.

That being said, today I'm going to be posting several times.  I've got to mention things like dermitage reviews and diet aids - there's a whole list, and they're all supposed to be done today.  I spaced them out as well as I could, but there's only so much I can do.  I'll try to make the most of each post, hopefully actually posting some of the things I've been thinking about for a while now but never actually gotten around to posting.  Or maybe something completely new and random will pop into my head, and I might even include a picture of a waffle on somebody's stove just for the fun of it!  Who knows.  I hope you'll read at least some of them.

Note:  I am in no way saying that I keep up with and read all the blogs I want to, even the ones with just a post or two a day.  It would be nice if I could, but...

Make Your Own Natural Cleaner

I'm watching Dr. Oz, and he was pointing out how toxic a household cleaner is and how it has all kinds of ingredients you can't pronounce or don't know what they are like Stimerex ES.  It's a cleaner I have in my cabinet - not because I really wanted to buy it, but because my bathtubs have this nasty hard water build-up that just won't go away.  So I bought some Lime-Away and tried it.  It got rid of some of the hard water build-up, but not nearly all of it.  So, was it really worth the toxicity?  I guess not.  I did buy another cleaner that is supposed to remove hard water build-up, but I haven't tried it yet.  I'm thinking of trying this recipe I got on the Dr. Oz Show first.  If it works, I can take the 2nd cleaner back, and if it doesn't work, I'm really not out anything, because it uses things I have around the house anyway.

Here's the recipe:

Home-made Natural Cleaner

• Dissolve 1T Borax in 3T vinegar
• Add 2 cups water and 1T dish soap
• Shake well

You can also add some essential oil like peppermint oil to make it smell good and shake it up again.

I wonder if it will do anything to my hard water build-up?  I know vinegar is supposed to, but I can't get it to stay on long enough to do anything.  I just would prefer not to use a cleaner that can be really toxic.

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• Homemade Green Cleaning Products That Work (huffingtonpost.com)

Tired, Tired, Tired

Jeffrey was supposed to have today off, but he didn't.  Instead he went to work, because there was so much work to do, and I think someone else was supposed to come and work with him on a project or something.  So, today was just a regular Monday for me - laundry and catching up from the weekend - not that we had anything special planned if Jeffrey was home.

Thinking back on the day and trying to remember exactly what I got accomplished today besides laundry and ironing, I'm having a hard time remembering anything specific.  But I must have done something, because I'm really tired.  Good thing it's almost bed time!  Jeffrey went and played basketball for a couple hours after dinner, the first time the guys have gotten together this year.  He's looking a little tired, too.  Even if we were in the habit of taking sleeping pills, which we're not, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be needing them tonight.  And I somehow think morning is going to come way to early.  Again.

Heads or Tails - Pack

The theme/prompt for THIS week, January 19, is:

HEADS - "Pack"

Make any kind of post using any form of the word "Pack"

Every time we go anywhere, we always say we’re going to pack less – and every time we pack more than we need anyway.  We just tend to pack until the minivan is full!  One of these days I am going to have to get my friend Liz to show me how she does it.  I was talking to her when we were in Lexington.  She was all packed up to go home – with her laptop in its bag and everything else in this one carry-on size bag.  She says that no matter how many days she is going to be away from home, that is how she packs.  With airlines all wanting to charge extra for any checked baggage, I think we could all take a lesson or two from Liz.

I don’t know if there’s any such thing as quick weight loss diets for our overstuffed suitcases, but I did an online search for some tips on packing a suitcase.  Maybe some of them will be helpful.

• How to Pack a Suitcase – at eHow.  As they say, “Packing a suitcase is a strategic exercise in maximizing space and minimizing wrinkles.”
• How to Pack a Suitcase – at HowToDoThings.com
• Pack a Suitcase to Thwart Wrinkles – at About.com
• How To: Pack a Suitcase – at Real Simple

and a video:

Now if I can just remember to refer to some of these the next time I need to pack for a trip.

Heads or Tails is a fun weekly meme created and hosted by Barb (aka Skittles) – feel free to join in!

How Much Can Three Cats Eat?

The thing with having three cats in the house is that we seem to be going through a lot of cat food.  Teddy always wants to eat.  If there's food in the dish, he just has to eat it, and if there's not food in the dish, he's trying to get the bucket open to get to the food, or begging someone to give him some.  If we let that cat eat as  much as he wants, we're going to have to go looking for the best fat burners for cats, because he's going to be huge!

Weasley likes to eat, and he always begs for our food, but if there's no cat food in the dish, it doesn't seem to bother him.  He's more than ready to run over and eat as soon as we put some food in the dish, though - and that's usually when Tillie begs for food.  She begs patiently, standing over by the food dish quietly, waiting for someone to notice her.  We have to lock the boys up or hold onto them when we feed her, though, because she won't eat when they're around.  I wish she'd stand her ground when the boys try to rush over, but she won't.  She only wants to eat a little and walk away, and then be able to come back and eat a little later.  The problem is, as soon as she walks away and the boys are let go, they rush over and finish the food - so the next time Tillie wants to eat, there's no food.  So we start all over again, and we have no way of knowing how much each cat is eating.

So, today I got each cat his/her own food dish, with a lid - they're actually 8-oz. dip containers.  I measured out half of what the food bag says each cat should get per day (about 3/4 cup) and marked the containers so we know how full to fill them, and I labeled each container with one of the cat's names.  Now, twice a day, we can fill the food dishes to the line, and feed each cat from his or her own dish.   They can each eat as much as they want, and when they walk away, we pick up the dish, put the lid on, and put it away.  If Teddy eats all his food in the morning, he waits until afternoon to get more.  When Tillie walks away, her food gets put away until the next time she wants it.

As long as we pay attention and remember to pick the dishes up when the cats aren't eating, it should work.  Hopefully.  And one cat won't be eating twice as much food as the other ones.

She's Back

I mentioned a while back that Beth had moved down to stay with my brother and help him take care of his 10-year-old daughter, Tana.  Well, that didn't last too long, because she's back. 

Tana spent Winter Break with her mom, and Beth came home and then went with Tim to visit his mom.  Then after Break, Tana decided that she wanted stay with her mom - so Beth didn't go back, except to get her stuff.  I think she's kind of relieved that she didn't have to tell her uncle that she didn't want to be there any more and wanted to come home.  It was kind of interesting hearing her talk about all the frustrations of dealing with a 10-year-old who had apparently never had to do anything she didn't want to do while living with her mom.  Some of the attitudes made me think, "Wow!  My daughter was just like that!"  But, of course, Tana is not Beth's daughter; she's her cousin, and should Beth really have to deal with that?

But since Beth is back, I'm beginning to wonder if the rest of us should really have to deal with that.  The attitude, the not being willing to do anything she doesn't want to do, the drama with Tim, the yelling, the stress.  It's enough to have me looking for oahu hotels hoping to get away.

Am I a bad mom for thinking how much more peaceful it was around here while she was gone?

Looking at the Sky on Friday - 41

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

I took this with my cell phone Monday evening, because I was out, and I didn’t have my real camera with me.  I loved the pink on the clouds.

One of these days I want to get a digital camera that will fit in my purse – not just any digital camera, but one with at least 10x optical zoom.  There are a few really promising ones available, but I’m waiting for the price to come down because I’m cheap like that.  Whether I’m looking for digital cameras, clarks shoes, or school supplies, I just need to get the best deal possible.  In the meantime, I have my cell phone with me, and it takes pretty decent pictures, though there’s no zoom.

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.

I'd Put a Title Here, if I Could Think of One

So, the last three posts have been memes - Looking at the Sky on Friday, Camera Critters, and Heads or Tails - and nothing in between.  Sometimes I wonder what I'd say or post if not for memes!  But then the whole idea of keeping things updated about what's going on here kind of falls by the wayside, not to mention all the other things I need to post or want to share - book reviews and giveaways, and even a thing or two about term life insurance quotes, but I'm not getting to it.  Real life just keeps getting in the way of blogging!

The real life that's getting in the way?  It's not even exciting, just basic, ordinary things that need done around the house.  The sad thing is that I feel like I'm spending less time on the computer and accomplishing less than I want to, but I still don't feel like I'm getting caught up around here.  I don't feel like I'm getting any more done in the real world  - just getting frustrated about what isn't getting done. 

Collect Free Olympic Medallions from Coke and Mac's

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of iCoke.ca. All opinions are 100% mine.

The Olympics are next month!  I'm getting pretty excited.  I may not care about sports regularly, but when the Olympics roll around I love watching them.  My favorites are ice skating and snowboarding, but I will watch whatever is on.  I'm kind of bummed right now that I don't live in Canada, because I can't get a  FREE Coca-Cola Collectible Medallion by buying two (2) Coca-Cola 591mL products at Mac's stores.  That's right, if you buy two Coke products in one transaction, you get one of three Olympic medallions FREE.  This promotion just started Monday and runs through the end of February, but only while supplies last and only at Mac's.  So, visit the iCoke.ca website and find a Mac's store near you, then run out and get your Coke and Olympic medallions before it's too late.  Of course, if you're buying Coke but don't really care about the Olympics (What?  Are you crazy?) you could always collect the medallions and send them to me.  I wouldn't complain.

I don't really buy a lot of Coke, but I definitely like it better than that other brand - and it makes a great mixer, if you know what I mean.  So, if I was going to buy it, I'd get some regular Coke and probably some Sprite, because that makes a good mixer, too.  And if I could get these free Olympic medallions, now would definitely be the time to buy so I could collect them all.  You Canadians are so lucky!

The Olympics are coming to your country!  Next month!

Check Out Everything This Phone Can Do

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of LG Chocolate Touch. All opinions are 100% mine.

You've probably seen the commercials about a certain computer operating system where various people claim that it was their idea.  Well, I'm going to claim that the LG Chocolate Touch was my idea.  Of course it's not true, but I did say ages ago that people should be able to carry one device that does it all.  Why should they need to carry a separate phone, music player, and digital camera?  My thinking didn't go quite far enough, though, because the LG Chocolate Touch does more than that.  Besides being a phone, mp3 player and a 3.2MP digital camera, it also lets you connect to the internet, keep up with your social networking on sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, edit the photos you take and use them for picture messaging or upload them to your blogs or social network sites, and so much more.  Check out the Full Specs to see everything you can do with this phone.  There's even Visual Voicemail, as well as top-notch text, picture, video, and voice messaging.

Since I'm home most of the time with access to my computer, I'm not sure how much I would personally use all the features on this phone, but for someone who is out and about a lot, it would be great.  With this phone, you can stay in touch from anywhere with the One-touch Social Network Message Key for easy use of Mobile Blogging (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.), all while enjoying your music, and without lugging a whole lot of different devices.

The sound quality is really good, judging by the example on the website - you can play with it by flipping the switch to experience the difference of Dolby Mobile technology.  It certainly sounds better than the phone I have!  You can also adjust bass, treble, or voice, based on your preferences.  They say the crystal clear sound is the next best thing to a live performance.  I'm sure my husband would really appreciate it, being a sound guy.  You can add up to a 16GB microSD card, so it will handle a lot of music, and pictures and video, and of course manage your phone contacts, too.  There are also some sweet Visual Effects and features, including Rhythmical Beat that vibrates the handset to the beat of the music and the ability to get into the music by adding your own drums, keyboards, or even cowbell to any song.

The only question I have is - why do they call it Chocolate when it's purple and/or black?  That and how do I get my hands on one of these so I can play with it?  It does look like fun, doesn't it?