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!

Gotta Love eBay!

Cory somehow lost the charging cable for his cell phone while we were in Lexington.  Since Beth is home now and both kids have the same cell phone, he has still been able to charge his phone by sharing Beth's cable.  And, amazingly, I haven't heard any complaining from her about sharing.  Today, Beth stopped into the USCellular store for something and checked to see how much it would cost to replace Cory's cable - $20.  I said, no, we're not spending $20 to replace a cable as long as she's home and they can share, so she didn't buy it.

Then, I started checking to see how much I could get one for online.  I found one for $10 with free shipping, then decided to check bing shopping to see if I could find a better deal with cash back.  I didn't see anything specific right away but ended up clicking on an ebay link and then refining my search on ebay.  I found the exact same cable for $1.88 with free shipping from Hong Kong (how do they afford to ship things for free from Hong Kong?) - so I ordered 3 of them, one for Cory, an extra one for Beth so she can keep one in the car, and an extra one just to have it.  I had an eBay Bucks credit for 44¢ which was deducted from my total, bringing it down to $5.20 for three cables - and then we'll get 45¢ cash back from bing.

So, under $5 for three cables, and USCellular wanted us to pay $20 for just one. I love a good deal!

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.

Camera Critters (#93)

When Beth brought her stuff back home, she also brought the cat she adopted when she moved down there, the cat that supposed to be for Tana.  But, since Tana isn’t living with her dad any more, she wouldn’t be there to take care of the cat.  So, Beth brought Teddy here.

Three cats in the house is a little much, but for now Weasley is really enjoying having Teddy here.  The boys like to play and snuggle, and just generally have a good time together.  Tillie just stays out of their way and may even be grateful that Weasley leaves her alone now that he’s got Teddy to play with – as long as Teddy leaves her alone, that is.

Camera Critters is a fun weekend meme hosted by Misty Dawn.Visit the Camera Critters headquarters and join in.

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.

The School Needs a New Site

I got an interesting phone call today.  Our school District Administrator, Mr. S. called to tell me that they are planning to redesign the school website and are having some people come in on Thursday to do some training.  Apparently it's supposed to be really easy, which is just what they need.  He invited me because he recently found out that I built the current school website - I'd link to it, but frankly I'm a little embarrassed and don't really want to claim responsibility.  Oh, it was so much better than what they had before, and still is, but it's been several years - so many that I can't remember how many, and it's gone downhill since.  It really should have been redesigned ages ago.

I'm thinking I'll probably go to the training on Thursday, because I'm interested in seeing what they have in mind.  I hope it really is simple - something that faculty, teachers, or even students can put together and keep updated. When I did the website, I learned to use FrontPage and built it with that, because that's the program they had in the school, and that's what they were going to be using to update things.  Now I really don't like FrontPage at all - don't even have it on my computer - and I think they'll get a much better-looking site, without a bunch of bloated code, by going with something else. 

Mr. S. said maybe I'd have some suggestions or ideas for them, and maybe I will, because I've learned a thing or two since then, but I'm also thinking I might pick up a few things I can use, too.  You never know.

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. 

Heads or Tail – Sweet and Sour

The theme/prompt for THIS week, January 12, is:

HEADS - "Sweet"
*or*
TAILS - "Sour"

Make any kind of post about anything "Sweet" *or* anything "Sour."

I like sour more than I like sweet, but they’re pretty good together, at least in this recipe:

Sweet & Sour Meatballs
(called Waikiki Meatballs in the cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lbs. ground beef, ground turkey (or a combination)
• 2/3 cup cracker crumbs (20 crackers)
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 cup milk

• 2 T. cornstarch
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 20-oz. can pineapple tidbits or chunks
• 1/3 cup vinegar
• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1 green pepper, chopped

Directions:

1. Thoroughly mix ground meat, cracker crumbs, onion, egg, salt, ginger and milk. Shape into balls, place on baking sheet and bake at 350° until browned.
2. When meatballs are done, in large skillet combine cornstarch and sugar. Stir in pineapple juice, vinegar and soy sauce until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Add meatballs, pineapple tidbits and green pepper. Heat through.
3. Serve with steamed rice. We like brown rice and also some chow mein noodles on top.

Recipe from my favorite cookbook – The Best of Mennonite Fellowship Meals – and originally posted on my recipe blog here – Sweet & Sour Meatballs.

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

Camera Critters (#92)

While visiting my family in Kentucky, I not only got to meet my niece's horse Spice, I got to meet my brother’s cows.  He has a cow named Tilly – not exactly the same as our cat Tillie, but close.  Of course, that’s all they have in common!  He also has this mostly grown steer named Chucky Joe - who will soon be beef:  Yes, that's his job, and in the meantime he's very comfortable and happy.

Tilly was in her own stall since she was due to give birth any time.  She wasn't in a very good position for any pictures.  Since we were there, she had a little heifer calf named Cleopatra.  If you’d like some pics of that little critter, you can visit my brother’s blog New Kentucky Homestead.

This post has been edited because, as my brother so nicely pointed out, I did not take a picture of his cow Tilly.  :P

Camera Critters is a fun weekend meme hosted by Misty Dawn.Visit the Camera Critters headquarters and join in.