Drive, Putt & Swing

The last Friday before school started,  I thought I would treat my nephews (ages 11 and 7) and niece (age 9) to lunch and something fun to do.  We went to a nearby city which is about a 25-30 min. drive and ate at Big Boy, a restaurant that they don't seem to frequent too often.  Oh my goodness, they picked at each other all the way there!  Made it seem like the longest ride EVER! I debated on whether to continue with the fun stuff, but they did behave in the restaurant. 
I took them to the local Putt-Putt center where they played a round of miniature golf, drove the go-karts around and took a couple of turns in the batting cages.  The youngest nephew was so excited because he could drive his own kart this time, whereas, 2 years ago he had to ride along with me.   He also was the only one to get a hole-in-one at putt-putt. 

I kind of liked the idea of putting them in the cage :)

All in all, I think they had a pretty good time and I must say even after all the bickering, that I did too.  I just hope the first day back at school isn't a fog day :)

Ok, well, it's been almost 3 months since my last post and had started that online training to improve my blog.  Yeah, you can see that didn't last long.  I never did like school.  Even now I wish I was smarter, and thought about taking some classes, but I just can't do that school thing again. 
I wasn't one of the popular girls, didn't make the cheerleading squad, didn't go out for sports, so I don't have many good memories.  I didn't have a lot of confidence then and I don't have a lot of confidence now. 
Dealing with issues lately of inferiority and invisibility and let me tell you that Facebook is probably not a good thing when you're feeling that way. 
Like when:
People don't show any recognition on your comments, but they do on all the other people that commented;
You notice friends 'liking' all kinds of status's and pictures, but never yours;
Your friend requests are ignored.
Now I live in a very small town, so I see these people that didn't accept my friend request, so it's very hard to even say hi or smile when I see them. 
I've stopped sending, but I also realize I'm not receiving any friend requests. 

What the hell is wrong with me?

Sorry to be such a depressive diva, but just not having a good day.

Blogging 101

This week I signed up with The SITS Girls http://www.thesitsgirls.com/ for a little online training to improve my blog.  After checking out some of the other blogs that signed on, I realized I have a lot more to learn than most do.  First thing I have to improve on is becoming a less boring person. 

Today I was finally able to get into the dirt and plant some flowers.  Normally I'm rushing to get plants in around the first week of June and hope by August the landscaping finally looks good.   But only working part-time now, I really have no excuse and I was actually itching to get started.  Just had to wait on some warm weather and no more frost advisories (fingers crossed). 

My husband was a pig farmer when I married him, so all my decor throughout the house and spilling out into the yard had to do with pigs or farming.  We've been out of the pig business for many years now and I have gotten rid of many of my pigs, but I do still have some I can't part with yet.  Hey, that sounds like another blog sometime!  I'll share my piggie pastime.

I'm not a crafty person, but I would really like to try my hand sprucing up the old deck and backyard this year.   One of my friends made the wine bottle hummingbird feeder that you see in the one picture and I just think that's adorable.  Why can't I think of stuff like that?  I think I will head on over to Pinterest right now and see what I can steal :)

Oh and one more picture of my rhododendron bush this year, the blooms are fantastic on it!  

Happy Planting!

One Woman's Trash.....

Every spring I have a big garage sale with my sisters and in-laws.  I love doing it, displaying items and being able to 'recycle' things.  I really hate just throwing things away when somebody, somewhere out there might be able to use them.  We are such a wasteful society now.  Although I'm not happy with myself after going through dresser drawers and realizing I have 2 sock drawers and some of them have been in there so long and are in bad shape.  How the heck did I end up with 2 sock drawers??

We have an old Hoosier cabinet that through the years we've thrown a lot of different things in its drawers.  I have NO idea what some of these wires and screws even go to anymore.  And those batteries must have been well hidden, because they have an expiration date of 2008!

While I go through drawers and boxes, I usually put in a dvd and this morning I'm watching the 6th season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".  I think this show is giving me ulcers, but I just can't stop watching, lol.   Nobody can be that obnoxious, can they? 

Well, back to the business at hand.  I now have to get to one of the three t-shirt drawers. (yikes!)

Recipe Round-up

I used to work at a public library and had access to many cooking magazines and cookbooks.  Through the years I have acquired many copies of recipes to try.  Now that I am home more, I've started going through them and finally giving them a try.  Of course there are some that I wonder what I was hungry for when I copied them and I've thrown away, so my piles are dwindling down some.  As I try them I get a 'rating' from the DH and DD to decide whether to keep the recipe or not.  That rating is either an 'It's okay" or a crinkled up nose, which means 'don't fix that again'.

Last week I tried this slow cooker recipe and it turned out really well.  Expecially since the Nascar race was on and I didn't have to miss a whole lot of it when it came time for supper!

Slow-Cooker Steak

Appx. 3 potatoes, peeled & quartered
4-oz pkg. baby carrots
2 stalks diced celery
Chopped onion ( I only used about 1 Tbs., original called for 1 whole)
6 beef round steaks (I used really thin slices)
12-oz jar beef gravy
10-3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1/8 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Brown the round steaks in 1 Tbs. vegetable oil.  Meanwhile combine the vegetables and place in a slow cooker.  Arrange the steaks on top.  Mix the remaining ingredients together; pour over steaks, stirring to coat both the vegetables and the steaks.  Heat on low setting for 6-8 hours.   Serves 6.

Enjoy!

Paradise in the D.R.

That's the Dominican Republic, not at the Doctor's :)  My husband and I spent last week at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Punta Cana.  Lovely 80 degree weather, beautiful beach and all the food and drinks you want!  I am totally convinced that All-inclusive resorts are the way to enjoy a real vacation! 
This resort was HUGE with 9 pools and about 15 different places to eat. 

We got a daily walk in either just by walking the grounds of the resort or a long, leisurely stroll along the beach, which didn't feel like work at all :)  Great exercise with a wonderful view.  Now that I'm back on the treadmill, I close my eyes to picture the ocean, but I have to hold on to the bars or I'll start sliding off the treadmill.  Relaxation......
They put on a show one night called The Michael Jackson Show and the interpreter had the moves down and looked just like him, you would have sworn he was still alive.  We played putt-putt golf, hung out by the pools and drank many fruity concoctions. 
The airport in Punta Cana was a different experience.  All I can say is, it is a good thing it wasn't pouring down rain.  No jetways here.....

I was real disappointed in the casino though, it took my money :(

Motivational Meltdown

Well it has been almost 4 weeks since I started walking on the treadmill and the only thing that I have lost is my motivation.  I've walked one mile for at least 6 out of the 7 days and I don't notice any change in my size.  The scale is my worst enemy right now, because it doesn't believe in change, just can't deal with that. 
On a lighter side, no pun intended, this has been a week of early spring cleaning.  I have to start early because it takes me so long.   Working on the little things like ceiling fans and chandeliers and WOW it's so much brighter in here!  It has been quite awhile since I cleaned some of them. 
Had a great night out with 4 other couples last evening.  Such a laid back time with lots of laughs.  We really don't do that often enough.  I should add that to my resolutions, I think I can get motivated to go out to eat :)