Just a few things.
Superman and I are a special level of sick. Our new friends are:
1. Throw up bowl Superman's is pink, mine is blue.
2. Super fuzzy blanket.
3. A wind tunnel fan because it makes using Super Fuzzy Blanket more comfortable.
4. Eachother.
5. Superman made extra special friends with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies 1 and 2. I predict several times.
Soooooooo sick we two.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Cleaning the fryer and Lurkers.
Alright I would be lying if I said that stupid fryer hasn't been haunting me. The idea of it grossed me out entirely. The idea that someone else's who knows what was fried in there and then not cleaned is just gross. So being the brilliant, compassionate and often inspired mom that I am. I bribed Macguyver jr. to clean it. I know what your thinking , how could I let my child clean something I thought was disgusting. It was easy really. I should be clear, he was eager to earn his reward. Win win I thought. Hey when I was a kid I had to clean up after myself when I was sick because my mom couldn't. Everyone has deal breakers and aparrently old stranger grease is mine. Who knew?
So Macguyver eagerly took to the task and it came pretty clean but not without the utilization of an old electric toothbrush. Later today I will attack it with baking soda and a sand blaster. I hope that this appliance will be clean and useful to our family soon, I have a party to cater the first week of December so either I will be buying a new one or this one will come clean and do just fine for our needs.
I'm still miffed at that freecycler.
Moving onto to nicer topics it seems I have lurkers. People who read my blog but who choose to remain anonymous. I'm cool with that it tickled me to discover that I had more than a couple of readers. Or maybe my readers just check me multiple times a day? LOL. Well no matter, if I do have lurkers I want to say Hello and its nice to not meet you! I am so glad to have you and I hope you will keep coming back. And to the friends I have made here since I began, thank you for the support and kindness you have all shown me. I have found that I really love blogging but I will admit, it's nice to see that people are reading, commiserating, identifying or even disagreeing with me.
I wanted to mention that I will be soon posting pictures on my blogs, as well as pictures of my foodie creations on my foodie blog. I find that I really love reading blogs that have pictures so I decided that I wanted to add that to my little place in the blogosphere. I need to get a camera of course. Ours didn't make it out of the fire. Well thats not entirely accurate. It lasted about a year after the fire. The contractor said that anything we salvaged from the fire that was in any way electric or had small moveable parts, aka cameras, computers etc. They would be toast. Maybe not the day we salvaged them but shortly there after. Truth be told it was never quite right after the fire and it limped along for a year and then died. It is hard to not have a camera. I would love to take pictures of our daily life , especially since the fire. Photos are so precious to us now.
Anywhoo it's time for me to go. I have to put my soup on for supper. Mmmm Ham and Bean Soup with honey cornbread. Recipe to follow on Foodie Flabulosity.
Till next time,
Mrs. F.
P.S. If there are any lurkers out there that want to say hello, please do. I would love to meet you.
So Macguyver eagerly took to the task and it came pretty clean but not without the utilization of an old electric toothbrush. Later today I will attack it with baking soda and a sand blaster. I hope that this appliance will be clean and useful to our family soon, I have a party to cater the first week of December so either I will be buying a new one or this one will come clean and do just fine for our needs.
I'm still miffed at that freecycler.
Moving onto to nicer topics it seems I have lurkers. People who read my blog but who choose to remain anonymous. I'm cool with that it tickled me to discover that I had more than a couple of readers. Or maybe my readers just check me multiple times a day? LOL. Well no matter, if I do have lurkers I want to say Hello and its nice to not meet you! I am so glad to have you and I hope you will keep coming back. And to the friends I have made here since I began, thank you for the support and kindness you have all shown me. I have found that I really love blogging but I will admit, it's nice to see that people are reading, commiserating, identifying or even disagreeing with me.
I wanted to mention that I will be soon posting pictures on my blogs, as well as pictures of my foodie creations on my foodie blog. I find that I really love reading blogs that have pictures so I decided that I wanted to add that to my little place in the blogosphere. I need to get a camera of course. Ours didn't make it out of the fire. Well thats not entirely accurate. It lasted about a year after the fire. The contractor said that anything we salvaged from the fire that was in any way electric or had small moveable parts, aka cameras, computers etc. They would be toast. Maybe not the day we salvaged them but shortly there after. Truth be told it was never quite right after the fire and it limped along for a year and then died. It is hard to not have a camera. I would love to take pictures of our daily life , especially since the fire. Photos are so precious to us now.
Anywhoo it's time for me to go. I have to put my soup on for supper. Mmmm Ham and Bean Soup with honey cornbread. Recipe to follow on Foodie Flabulosity.
Till next time,
Mrs. F.
P.S. If there are any lurkers out there that want to say hello, please do. I would love to meet you.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Freecycle disappointment
I love Freecycle. If yo don't know what that is go to www.freecycle.org. All you have to do is find your state and then your area and then join. I think it is a fantastic idea and a great community resource when done right. I love the idea of giving away stuff you don't need or want and getting free stuff you need. Here is my beef with freecycle. Don't get me wrong , I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth but is it too much to ask that if you give something away that it be clean? I don't think that is asking too much. Last night I went to pick up from someone on freecycle and I kid you not I threw half of it away because it was either not what was described or it was so filthy that I knew it was not something I could clean.
Case in point. I got a deep fat fryer for free. They said it works great. I was thrilled. When I pulled it out of the bag my thrill turned to horror. The entire outside of this appliance is CAKED with grease and old oil. OMG. It literaly was slimey. The very idea of giving something like that away but not cleaning it is disgusting. Yes it can be cleaned and that is why I kept it but honestly it turns me off of freecycling. I would never give something away that was filthy. Certainly no appliance. I get that people sometimes want to just be rid of their junk but how hard is it to clean up the item before you give it to another family? I honestly feel like some people look at people who take their unwanted items as if they were walking landfills. Not really people but just garbage pickers. ( Mind you I have a lot of respect for garbage pickers. If you doubt then I challenge you to read The Tightwad Gazette)
It really made me feel like the person who gave these items away simply didn't care that they gave these items to people. People who could actually use these items and might have appreciated a little cleanliness. I won't go into the horror of opening the fryer and the smell that greeted me. Very disappointing.
My next beef came with a bag of makeup, prescription eyeglasses and USED contact cases. And a hair brush. This lot was described as bathroom stuff. Toiletries. I read that as soaps ( not used) cleaners, lotions (not used) maybe. Bathroom stuff. There was no inkling that this was someones PERSONAL Hygiene items. No clue that it was USED make up, USED contact cases and the like. Who in the world is going to use someone elses USED eye liner pencil? How about lipstick? Anyone? What are people thinking? I am sorry but there are just some things you MUST throw away. Some things you must spare the rest of the world. Namely your body fluids. I was stunned. Once again I would never give my used make up away to anyone but maybe my daughter. It is just shocking what people think is recyclable.
I love the idea of Freecycle but honestly this is enough for me to want to simply leave it to the less sqeamish. Perhaps it is just me. Perhaps I am being a baby but I kid you not there will never be a time when I use a strangers contact case or walk up to a perfect stranger and admire her shade of lipstick and ask :
" Can I have it?"
Never will there be a time when I am sitting in the airport ( or anywhere) and spy someone brushing their hair and ask:
" Can I have it?" " No really , it makes your hair look Faaaaabulous, yea I want that brush"
And lets be real. What are the odds that some perfect stranger will have your exact prescription?
It might go something like this.
So and so opens a random eyeglass container and sees a pair of glasses.
"SCORE!"
*tries them on and low and behold not only is it a perfect fit but......*
" Boy howdy! Imagine that they are my prescription! "
Yes ok the lenses can be removed and replaced with your prescription but come on. Luckily I can give them to my church and they will be sent to a third world country so that people who can actually use them might get a pair of glasses.
So in closing I am sorry if I sound ungrateful but maybe its too much to expect for people to be grateful for your old grease and used eye makeup.
Mrs. F
Case in point. I got a deep fat fryer for free. They said it works great. I was thrilled. When I pulled it out of the bag my thrill turned to horror. The entire outside of this appliance is CAKED with grease and old oil. OMG. It literaly was slimey. The very idea of giving something like that away but not cleaning it is disgusting. Yes it can be cleaned and that is why I kept it but honestly it turns me off of freecycling. I would never give something away that was filthy. Certainly no appliance. I get that people sometimes want to just be rid of their junk but how hard is it to clean up the item before you give it to another family? I honestly feel like some people look at people who take their unwanted items as if they were walking landfills. Not really people but just garbage pickers. ( Mind you I have a lot of respect for garbage pickers. If you doubt then I challenge you to read The Tightwad Gazette)
It really made me feel like the person who gave these items away simply didn't care that they gave these items to people. People who could actually use these items and might have appreciated a little cleanliness. I won't go into the horror of opening the fryer and the smell that greeted me. Very disappointing.
My next beef came with a bag of makeup, prescription eyeglasses and USED contact cases. And a hair brush. This lot was described as bathroom stuff. Toiletries. I read that as soaps ( not used) cleaners, lotions (not used) maybe. Bathroom stuff. There was no inkling that this was someones PERSONAL Hygiene items. No clue that it was USED make up, USED contact cases and the like. Who in the world is going to use someone elses USED eye liner pencil? How about lipstick? Anyone? What are people thinking? I am sorry but there are just some things you MUST throw away. Some things you must spare the rest of the world. Namely your body fluids. I was stunned. Once again I would never give my used make up away to anyone but maybe my daughter. It is just shocking what people think is recyclable.
I love the idea of Freecycle but honestly this is enough for me to want to simply leave it to the less sqeamish. Perhaps it is just me. Perhaps I am being a baby but I kid you not there will never be a time when I use a strangers contact case or walk up to a perfect stranger and admire her shade of lipstick and ask :
" Can I have it?"
Never will there be a time when I am sitting in the airport ( or anywhere) and spy someone brushing their hair and ask:
" Can I have it?" " No really , it makes your hair look Faaaaabulous, yea I want that brush"
And lets be real. What are the odds that some perfect stranger will have your exact prescription?
It might go something like this.
So and so opens a random eyeglass container and sees a pair of glasses.
"SCORE!"
*tries them on and low and behold not only is it a perfect fit but......*
" Boy howdy! Imagine that they are my prescription! "
Yes ok the lenses can be removed and replaced with your prescription but come on. Luckily I can give them to my church and they will be sent to a third world country so that people who can actually use them might get a pair of glasses.
So in closing I am sorry if I sound ungrateful but maybe its too much to expect for people to be grateful for your old grease and used eye makeup.
Mrs. F
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Hot Mess Halloween
Once again I am back after more time away than I anticipated. Suffice to say the title of this post should give you an inkling of my past 2 weeks.
Since the fire, holidays have been difficult on many levels. It's hard to explain to a group of eager children that they no longer have their plug in "punkin" to display. And that beloved Darth Vader costume with the sweet talking helmet is FUBAR. Oh yes and those decorations that you used to make your bedroom windows spooky and festive...gone. You see my children "know" all of this but in the frenzy that can only come with holidays they forget and the conversation goes like this.
" Mom! we need to put up that skeleton that we stuffed with newspaper and hung from the tree, remember? "
" yes I remember but we lost it in the fire."
" oh.......yea"
" Maybe you could make a skeleton out of construction paper?"
" nah I just forgot"
So yea that makes holidays hard. It's not just Halloween, its every single holiday. I just wish it didn't feel so awful to see them remember .
Enter their new art teacher. She has spend the month of october preparing them for Halloween. They painted , they played games, they made halloween decorations and they even painted T shirts for Halloween. Yay new memories! We don't have a lot of decorations or a fraction of the things we had before but the kids will want to pull out the things they made this year, next Halloween. That is a good thing.
So here is the Halloween break down you have all been waiting for.
In order of appearance :
MTA went as a Mobster named Puff Pinky. She had a fedora and all. Too bad people at church thought she was a pimp. I wonder if that reflects badly in some way. LOL. She spent the night with her girlfriends listening to thriller and no doubt gossiping. She was disappointed that her lack of attention toward trick or treating resulted in a poor haul.
MacGuyver Jr. went as Bleeding Death. He had a bleeding skull and the whole shebang. He walked around all night squeezing a little pump shaped like a human heart that pushed blood into his skull mask. He grossed out his Grandma and considered it a successful night. Namely because he grossed out his Grandma.
Sketch has worn his favorite costume for two Halloweens in a row now. He went as a Dead Metal Biker. Complete with skull mask and a pretty sweet jacket with spikes. He had a very good Halloween but his main focus was making decorations and carving pumpkins. He was very concerned that we might not get pumpkins this year. ( due to funds, can you believe pumpkins were 6 dollars for one? ) He did in fact get to carve a pumpkin and on Halloween night his focus shifted to trick or treating. He was very focused. He was pleased with his haul. He seemed to have fun being chased by the several girls that have seemed to notice his existence in the last six months.
Walker TR went as Spiderman. He even had a spiderman bucket for which to carry his ill gotten gains. He made a pretty find Spiderman and we all felt safer for our Superhero protection. He isn't nicknamed Walker Texas Ranger for nothin! He made a nice haul and spent most of his evening trading karate kicks with his friend. When he got home he proceeded to help Superman find a nice spot for his candy and only then did he put his own away. I heard him telling Superman to make sure to have Mom check all his candy before he ate any. I also overheard him telling Superman he was checking to make sure he didn't have any gold coins , because they had to be thrown away right away!
( we told the children of the poison candy and told them under no uncertain terms that they were in fact deadly and they were to throw them away should they happen to get a gold coin)
Superman oddly enough went as a Blue Power Ranger. His evening consited of running around to each and every car in the parking lot ( We did Trunk or Treating at our church) multiple times and getting as much loot as he possibly could carry. We even emptied his bucket in a pillow case so he could get more! If there was a more focused child trick or treating, I did not see one. Not even Sketch. Superman trampled small dogs and small girls to get to the good stuff. He was always polite to the candy vendor but those in line were fair game. Now mind you he wasn't being mean he was simply on his game. I couldn't believe the amount of energy he still had when it was all over.
FP and I crashed and the kids reminded us that the fun had just begun! Oh Sweet Candy Hell. We came home to our house destroyed! Clothes everywhere, diry dishes on the table, make up and costume pieces strewn about. Couch cushions askew, some on the floor. ( don't ask me why)
Enter the Hot Mess Halloween. Between checking candy, picking up wrappers, convincing a 4 year old that he cannot exist on candy alone and trying to clean up after Halloween. We live in what is no longer our home but Hot Mess Halloween. We are trying to recover. The children are in a 12 step program. FP and I are working with therapists. It is all very painful but we are managing.
I love Halloween. I even got to brush up on my special effects make up. I did a frost and ice effect for my face. I think it turned out pretty cool. I got several compliments and a lot of questions on how I did it.
FP got off of work and took us all to the church to get our trick or treat on. Bless his heart he gave out candy while I took Superman around. How sweet he looked sitting on a lonely curb with a glow in the dark pumpkin candy bucket in his lap. As we neared the end of the night I walked over to him only to discover a tidy pile of candy wrappers next to him. He had his hand in the candy jar all night! I was feeling sorry for him and all along he had the better job!
All in all a very good night.
Mrs. F.
p.s. check out my new recipe on Foodie Flabulosity.
Since the fire, holidays have been difficult on many levels. It's hard to explain to a group of eager children that they no longer have their plug in "punkin" to display. And that beloved Darth Vader costume with the sweet talking helmet is FUBAR. Oh yes and those decorations that you used to make your bedroom windows spooky and festive...gone. You see my children "know" all of this but in the frenzy that can only come with holidays they forget and the conversation goes like this.
" Mom! we need to put up that skeleton that we stuffed with newspaper and hung from the tree, remember? "
" yes I remember but we lost it in the fire."
" oh.......yea"
" Maybe you could make a skeleton out of construction paper?"
" nah I just forgot"
So yea that makes holidays hard. It's not just Halloween, its every single holiday. I just wish it didn't feel so awful to see them remember .
Enter their new art teacher. She has spend the month of october preparing them for Halloween. They painted , they played games, they made halloween decorations and they even painted T shirts for Halloween. Yay new memories! We don't have a lot of decorations or a fraction of the things we had before but the kids will want to pull out the things they made this year, next Halloween. That is a good thing.
So here is the Halloween break down you have all been waiting for.
In order of appearance :
MTA went as a Mobster named Puff Pinky. She had a fedora and all. Too bad people at church thought she was a pimp. I wonder if that reflects badly in some way. LOL. She spent the night with her girlfriends listening to thriller and no doubt gossiping. She was disappointed that her lack of attention toward trick or treating resulted in a poor haul.
MacGuyver Jr. went as Bleeding Death. He had a bleeding skull and the whole shebang. He walked around all night squeezing a little pump shaped like a human heart that pushed blood into his skull mask. He grossed out his Grandma and considered it a successful night. Namely because he grossed out his Grandma.
Sketch has worn his favorite costume for two Halloweens in a row now. He went as a Dead Metal Biker. Complete with skull mask and a pretty sweet jacket with spikes. He had a very good Halloween but his main focus was making decorations and carving pumpkins. He was very concerned that we might not get pumpkins this year. ( due to funds, can you believe pumpkins were 6 dollars for one? ) He did in fact get to carve a pumpkin and on Halloween night his focus shifted to trick or treating. He was very focused. He was pleased with his haul. He seemed to have fun being chased by the several girls that have seemed to notice his existence in the last six months.
Walker TR went as Spiderman. He even had a spiderman bucket for which to carry his ill gotten gains. He made a pretty find Spiderman and we all felt safer for our Superhero protection. He isn't nicknamed Walker Texas Ranger for nothin! He made a nice haul and spent most of his evening trading karate kicks with his friend. When he got home he proceeded to help Superman find a nice spot for his candy and only then did he put his own away. I heard him telling Superman to make sure to have Mom check all his candy before he ate any. I also overheard him telling Superman he was checking to make sure he didn't have any gold coins , because they had to be thrown away right away!
( we told the children of the poison candy and told them under no uncertain terms that they were in fact deadly and they were to throw them away should they happen to get a gold coin)
Superman oddly enough went as a Blue Power Ranger. His evening consited of running around to each and every car in the parking lot ( We did Trunk or Treating at our church) multiple times and getting as much loot as he possibly could carry. We even emptied his bucket in a pillow case so he could get more! If there was a more focused child trick or treating, I did not see one. Not even Sketch. Superman trampled small dogs and small girls to get to the good stuff. He was always polite to the candy vendor but those in line were fair game. Now mind you he wasn't being mean he was simply on his game. I couldn't believe the amount of energy he still had when it was all over.
FP and I crashed and the kids reminded us that the fun had just begun! Oh Sweet Candy Hell. We came home to our house destroyed! Clothes everywhere, diry dishes on the table, make up and costume pieces strewn about. Couch cushions askew, some on the floor. ( don't ask me why)
Enter the Hot Mess Halloween. Between checking candy, picking up wrappers, convincing a 4 year old that he cannot exist on candy alone and trying to clean up after Halloween. We live in what is no longer our home but Hot Mess Halloween. We are trying to recover. The children are in a 12 step program. FP and I are working with therapists. It is all very painful but we are managing.
I love Halloween. I even got to brush up on my special effects make up. I did a frost and ice effect for my face. I think it turned out pretty cool. I got several compliments and a lot of questions on how I did it.
FP got off of work and took us all to the church to get our trick or treat on. Bless his heart he gave out candy while I took Superman around. How sweet he looked sitting on a lonely curb with a glow in the dark pumpkin candy bucket in his lap. As we neared the end of the night I walked over to him only to discover a tidy pile of candy wrappers next to him. He had his hand in the candy jar all night! I was feeling sorry for him and all along he had the better job!
All in all a very good night.
Mrs. F.
p.s. check out my new recipe on Foodie Flabulosity.
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