It's Thursday already, not that I'm complaining mind you. I have had a rough, painful week. Thankfully my stupid ingrown toenail corrected itself and is no longer red or hurting. Perhaps I nicked the side just a smidge too short cutting them last weekend, and the nail was digging in a bit as it grew out. Meanwhile, with

I swear, as soon as I get one medical oddity cleared up something else comes along.  My bowel issues have "flushed" themselves out, thankfully.  Everything is moving along nicely.  I have been really careful to drink more water (a large pitcher every day) and eat a balanced diet.  An apple a day, indeed! Mean

I was thinking last night after I blogged about my childhood lunches.  This isn't exactly a subject worth dwelling on, but I did stop and think about it for a bit.  I was surprised at how little my lunches have changed over the years, yet I was really surprised to find what passes for lunch these days in public schools. 

Have you ever had a moment where all those scoldings your mother gave you sank in at the same time and made sense? I had one of those in the last couple weeks. All I have to say is, "dammit, my mother was right." I remember growing up and having to make my own lunch every day. Don't worry, no whining about hav

One of the downfalls to not being glued to Facebook every six seconds is that I am not at my computer as much to blog. I still think about blog posts and write things down in my head, but I just don't spend my evenings clicking away anymore. The good news is that I'm actually living life, whether I'm cooking more or spend

Where have I been the last two days?  In the kitchen! Every year, The Man's family gets together in Hubbard for the Hop Festival and a huuuuuge family picnic (sixty people?) at his aunt and uncle's house there.  We went up today to watch the parade in the morning and then have burgers and hot dogs for lunch. In the mid-a

Quoting our apartment complex manager's assistant's e-mail to me (because he couldn't or wouldn't take care of this himself?): "It appears that you can misconstrue the e-mail I sent. I should have been more clear, putting plus, not and in my sentence when explaining the charges. Because of this miscommunication, we wi

I've never had a problem with my apartment complex.  Aside from the typical living-in-close-proximity noises, I've never even had a problem with noisy neighbors.  We don't hear appliances running, water running, even people running unless the windows are open.  It's a beautiful complex with great amenities and a nice loc

Friday night was busy with quilting.  I have all of my 1/8th-inch ribbons sewn onto my quilt.  Now I just have to do the 1/4-inch ribbons between the major color blocks and bind it.  Once the quilt is bound, I think I might embroider the black edges by hand.  I'm feeling very comfortable with embroidery now that I've do

The Man and I discussed our options when it came to movies, and we decided to join Netflix.  I forget if I had Netflix or Blockbuster when I was in college, but that worked really well then.  The Man and I had previously been using the instant-watch feature on his mother's account, so we were getting plenty of movies, but

The air conditioner has seen its first real use in our apartment.  I would probably count that purchase as one of the top five best purchases for our second-floor home.  We're enjoying the cool breeze and not having to swelter in the 95-plus interior temperatures like last summer! You know, I never realized how much more

The Man and I had a fantastic afternoon with our parents and siblings yesterday.  The eight of us went to the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge and had a picnic under some shady trees before going on a long walk.  It seems everyone had a nice time. We were able to take some good family photographs as well as see

I previously ranted about my dislike of all things purse-y.  I hate carrying them, slinging them over my shoulder, and having to care for them.  I hate not being able to find what I need when I need it.  I hate not being able to carry as much as I want.  Purses and I have a long history of not getting along. For my eve

There are a few lines I dare not cross on my blog: sex, drugs, and politics most often not showing up here.  And while I'll talk about my own experiences, I really do try not to push religion.  But I consider my blog a sort of record of my life, a timeline of events and goings-on that are important to note.  I try to blo

- You cannot get the smell of mold out of plastic bowls. - Constipation is absolutely no fun. - Sugar ants cannot swim. - I'm allergic to (indoor) cats. - It is a bad idea to go grocery shopping on the first day of the month which also happens to be a Thursday before 4th of July weekend.  (But the sales are really good.)

I've had time to work on projects, learn new skills, and spend time with my husband.  Instead of being glued to a computer screen all day and night, I've enjoyed finishing books one right after another.  I am not concerned with the goings-on of everyday life in the way of status updates, Tweets, or obnoxious trivial bits

I had an adventure yesterday morning taking my sister's engagement photos.  The three of us found several neat spots to take pictures and have fun mocking crows, stand in tall grasses, and climb trees.  I was so pleased with how my new camera works, especially the seemingly endless battery life.  We took over 200 photos,

I've been watching VH1's You're Cut Off.  It's such a self-esteem booster to watch the show.  The premise is simple: nine super wealthy young women are cut off financially by their benefactors.  They are made to live in a regular house and have to cook their own food, clean their own living space, and budget for supplies

We bought an air conditioner!  That might not seem like a big deal to most people, but living in a second-floor apartment through last year's 100-degree weather was not fun.  We price-shopped quite a bit and ended up getting one for half the price of what we anticipated buying.  Our apartment's maintenance crew installed

I thought it would be fun to make my own butter this weekend.  After nearly failing, smashing my finger, getting a serious arm workout, and being underwhelmed with the end product, I'm not sure it was all worth it. Start off with a pint of heavy cream.  For those of you not familiar with imperial measurements, that's two

The Man and I got up entirely too early for our liking today.  After a frantic (and fruitless, no pun intended) search for the correct size of Ball freezer jars, we made our way to "our" strawberry patch north of Lebanon.  You must understand, loyal reader, that there is only one place to get the perfect strawbe

I'm waffling again about whether or not to buy a basting gun to help stabilize my quilt project.  I don't like safety pins, and I absolutely do not want to use straight pins (something about bleeding on a project doesn't appeal to me).  But I'm not sure I need a basting gun.  Will I really use it that much?  Is there a

Remember back a few weeks when I went to the doctor for no reason other than to get a refill prescription for Singulair?  And then the insurance company rejected the drug my doctor prescribed?  That's right, the company that pays for the drug disagrees with what my doctor is telling me to take.  Some insurance secretary

I suppose they aren't "sushi" as much as "California rolls," but since I'm not into the whole seaweed, raw meat, sticky rice, avocado mess, we're going to go ahead and call it candy sushi, okay?  You can leave the lecture on Japanese cuisine at the door.  I don't care. My sister wanted a Japanese-ish

We don't think it's the engine.  Yet. My poor car huffed, puffed, smoked, and steamed this weekend, while I sweated, fretted, and paced knowing my wallet was about to be considerably lighter.  The only thing I hate worse than car repair bills are human repair bills (especially the dental kind).  Both The Man and I spoke

I attended my third OSU graduation this weekend, the first one as a participant in 2006, the second as a proud fiancée in 2009, and this time as a proud sister.  Three times was enough. My sister graduated from OSU with her bachelor's degree on Saturday.  Four-and-a-half years in the making, she got a shiny diploma with

It all started with a soccer game.  The Man has joined a summer co-ed league and plays one night a week.  He grew up playing lots of soccer, and it's healthy and pretty safe, so I figure it's fine, right?  Except last night The Man comes dragging home after two games in a row on lungs full of pollen.  His asthma was goi

I have few memories of the farm as vivid as the chest of drawers with the permanent markers inside and the tape on top.  Grandma encouraged my artistic side probably more than anyone else, always leveling my creations with a "pretty good" and the ever-so-rare "good."  Every time we'd go out to the farm

We never used the front door.  The front door at my grandparents' farm was the back door to me, and the back door the front.  The same goes for other family members' houses I figure, always going in the back door as family, never the front door which was saved for "company" and missionaries.  If we go visit Mom

One of the first things we could see when pulling into the driveway at my grandparents' house was the clothesline.  Grandma used it exclusively, having both an outdoor line and an indoor line.  I don't think she ever owned a dryer.  The outdoor clothesline paralleled the driveway a distance of maybe thirty feet, four sag