Archive for September, 2009
Meredith wanted to bring her stuffed turtle “Shelly” for her first show-and-tell at preschool today. And whoever brings show-and-tell also provides a snack for the class. So, I thought that little turtles made from wheat bread, whipped cream cheese, cucumbers, and raisins for the head/arms/legs would make a cute snack! They kind of look like turtles, right? :)
I’m always trying to find the best buy at grocery stores in order to lower our food bill. Thank goodness our new Wal-Mart Super Center is open now! I went on the very first day ~ September 16th. It’s a nice store. Reminds me of the one in my hometown. There’s great lighting, everything is so clean and organized, and they seem to have just about everything. I think, though, that my technique may be to visit a bunch of different grocery stores in order to find good deals. Sometimes Price Chopper has buy one, get one free (or even B1G2!). And with the ShopRite card ~ especially during dollar days, you just can’t afford not to go. We are still relying on our weekly CSA shares for greens and some veggies, and there’s also our farmer’s market. But Wal-Mart is excellent for normal, everyday stuff. I want to buy local when possible, but some things are just *so* freaking cheap at Wal-Mart!
I’m beginning to *hate* the ceramic floor tiles in our kitchen. When we picked them out as our home was being built, we wanted an “outdoor French cafe” look ~ cobblestone streets, etc. And these tiles were perfect ~ a dark beige with lots of texture. I wanted to do a French cafe theme in our kitchen. Anyway, the tiles never got sealed when we were building our house, and it just sucks. We can *never* keep our floor tiles clean! They constantly look dirty. We tried deep cleaning them a while back and then applying sealer, but the sealer just wore off eventually. And that sealer bottle was expensive! Anyway, basically the only way we can *really* keep our floor tiles sparkling is getting down on the floor, hands and knees, and scrubbing them individually with a paste of baking soda and water (or sometimes I’ll use Borax, baking soda, and water). Oh man, it’s rough on the knees and back. Anyone have any good ideas for how to *really* clean ceramic tile with not much effort? LOL! :)
I remember my first car accident *so* vividly. I had just gotten my license ~ I think that I was 16 or 17 ~ and the accident was less than a mile from my house. I was turning left onto my parents’ road when a car came straight through the light and hit me. Ugh ~ my neck and back hurt for a few days because of the impact. It was *really* scary. My mom rushed to the scene and was *so* freaked out. Thankfully no one was hurt. I haven’t had a car accident since we’ve been living in New York ~ just a little scrape at a gas station when I accidentally ran into the white guardrail next to the pumps and scratched up the side of my car, LOL! :) We didn’t have to call New York accident lawyers or anything. So … what was your first car accident?
My face was *covered* with acne in fifth grade. That year, hands down, was the absolute *worst* as far as pimples went. Goodness, I had them all over my face ~ and my school photo that year sure showed it! I felt so embarrassed and self-conscious. Did you ever have bad acne? I hope not.
I kept searching for good solutions of how to get rid of acne, and using a clear Neutrogena bar every morning seemed to really help. So did Clearasil ~ it was in a small tube, and I would dab it onto my pimples. I know that it was just hormones, though, because the summer between fifth and sixth grades was when I started my period (I think that I was 12). I didn’t have acne as badly as some friends did, though. I knew a few people who had to have prescription acne treatments in order to treat their acne. I felt so badly for them.
I hope that when our kids reach that stage, I’ll be able to do a good job of helping them through the social embarrassment that they might feel if they develop bad acne. At least it’s (usually) a stage that kids grow out of. I was *so* happy to get rid of mine!
Good morning! :) Thanks, guys, for all of the comments that I’ve been receiving here at Bathtub Junkie. It’s really great that you’re reading this blog as well as lisannesblog.net. Makes me feel good! :)
I know that I talk about weight a lot here, but it has been on my mind lately. I think that one of the best weight loss supplements out there is getting support and encouragement from friends! :) As I said before, I really hope that when I have my doctor’s appointment on the 22nd (my dad’s birthday!), my doctor will put me on Effexor instead of the Lexapro that I’ve been taking. I really do think that this weight gain is caused by my medication. It gives me the munchies all the time. Happily, though, my friend Christina sent me some delicious Numi teas for my birthday, and rather than indulging in a sweet treat in the evenings, I’ve been having some hot tea. Go me! :) Making changes such as those is a good way to get healthier, I think.
So, I apologize for all of the weight talk, but it’s (literally) a growing concern for me. Thanks for all of your insight and help!
Knowing how to lose belly fat is a key point when it comes to losing weight and getting healthier. I read that abdominal fat ~ fat around your middle ~ is the worst kind of fat to have because it contributes greatly to heart disease. And of course, since I’ve been gaining all of this weight, most of it has settled right in my middle section. :( I’m wondering what exercise is best to target that. Crunches? Sit-ups? (Aren’t crunches better than sit-ups?) I remember when we had to do at least 50 sit-ups in a minute in seventh-grade gym class. I did it with ease. But now? Of course it’s more difficult. Anyway, I have a doctor’s appointment on the 22nd, and I’m *really* hoping that she will put me on a different medication that actually is reported to curb your appetite. This gaining weight stuff sucks. :(
Lucas and Meredith’s preschool has a Yankee Candle school fundraiser every year, and I just love it. Who doesn’t enjoy Yankee Candles? You can’t beat them ~ I have yet to find a candle that’s as fragrant. I just went through the catalog to see what candles we might want to purchase for our own home. The Sparkling Cinnamon smells so good! I also like Home for the Holidays and Eggnog (one of my favorite holiday beverages). Hard to believe that we’re thinking about Christmas goodies already, but Christmas is only about three months away!
If you’re interested in making a purchase to help out Luke and Meri’s preschool, check out YankeeFundraising.com. Send me an e-mail or leave a blog comment to let me know what you’d like to order, and I’ll get it taken care of for you. (You can mail me a check, send PayPal, or whatever’s easiest). Every dollar that’s raised goes DIRECTLY to Luke and Meri’s preschool class to benefit THEM, which I think is awesome. It’ll help buy new toys, supplies, decorations, activities, etc. as well as help cover daily classroom expenses. And when your order comes in, I’ll get it to you ASAP.
Thanks for your consideration!
I’ve been feeling a little down lately about the decline in blog comments (on both of my sites). It used to be that on a *very* good day, I would sometimes receive 20 comments on a blog entry. (That was many years ago ~ a few years after starting my blog.) But on a regular, average day, I would get at least five … maybe even 10 comments on occasion. Now? It seems like I’m only getting one or two comments at the most … and sometimes zero!
Raise your hand if you used and loved the Commodore 64!
Apple has now approved an officially licensed Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone. How funny is that?
The Commodore 64 was my very first computer, so it naturally holds a special place in my heart. I remember typing in long programs just to see a balloon float across the screen … and we would get *so* upset when the darned thing wouldn’t work (more than likely because of a missing semicolon or something!). We had the “paddles” ~ Sea Wolf was one of my favorite games. I remember having to type in “,8,1″ in order to get the floppy disk drive to work (or was it the cassette drive?). I played with that thing for hours on end. At first, we attached the computer to our TV in the living room, I believe. The Commodore 64 was such a *wonderful* way for me to learn about computers when I was growing up.
Speaking of PCs … I’ve always thought that this WordPress theme was neat, but I wouldn’t be brave enough to actually use it! :) Here are a bunch of Apple-themed WP themes in case you’re interested.
