Random Things!

Goodness!

Where does the time go?

The first part of last week, was spent making kits for the Scrapbook Factory. They got in lots of new stuff, and they always make up kits to sell in the store, so I was a busy girl.

The great thing about making the kits, is that it gives me some extra spending money to spend on scrapbooking goodies.

This weekend, Mr. Mister and I, decided to just get in the car and go. We haven't done that in a while. (I love to drive around looking at houses, gardens, and whatever else comes along.) Well, we ended up at a place called Fast Eddie's Bon Air. We had heard that it was a fun place to check out. It's toted as the "best bar in the midwest." (I didn't take pictures, so this photo is from their website.)



This bar was originally opened in 1921 by Anheuser Busch. It was known as Bon Air. Approximately ten years later, laws changed, which prohibited breweries from owning drinking establishments, so they had to sell it. It was owned by another family until 1981 when "Fast Eddie" bought it. Since then it has quadrupled in size.

One of the big draws to Fast Eddie's is that they have kept their menu prices the same as they were nineteen years ago. You can get a cheeseburger for $1.29, a basket of french fries for .99, and fresh peel & eat shrimp for .29 each. (These are just some of the things on their menu.)

Mr. Mister was QUITE impressed! LOL!

When we walked into Fast Eddie's, my first reaction was to turn around and walk back out. LOL! The line for food was wrapped all the way around the bar. But, we decided to stay, and quickly learned that the long lines were part of the "experience" when you went there. (We were lucky that the line was not out the door and down the block!)

On the weekends, they have live music. As we sat inside, we could hear the band warming up. We sat through a few songs, while we ate our lunch, and then decided to continue our drive up the river.

We drove through small towns, and looked at all of the boats on the river. It was a really nice day. The weather was perfect, and everyone seemed to be out enjoying it. We were hoping to stop at one of favorite "little" wineries, but it was also crowded with lots of people. So, we decided to head back home.

What a GREAT way to spend the day. It was so relaxing. And sometimes, it's fun to just get out, and "wander" around.

Unfortunately, now it's back to work! There's no time to play, because the TO-DO list is way too long.

Why can't the weekends last longer?

Hissy Fits!

I am sure you all remember my beautiful cat, Tori Belle. She is the one that started my affection for cats. From the time she was a kitten, she had me wrapped around her paw.



Let's all say it together now! AWWWWWWWW! Isn't she the sweetest? She just makes you want to scratch behind her ears doesn't she?

How about now?



Yeah! I thought so! I saw you snatch your hand back really fast! Those ears aren't looking quite so inviting now are they?

And my daughter's cat, Dink. I call him my "Lovey Dovey." He is such a delight to have roaming around the house. He's my sleeping buddy. (Until Mr. Mister comes to bed, and kicks him off his side of the bed! LOL!) I love snuggling and kissing on him all the time.



Well! UMMMMMMM! Maybe not ALL of the time!



You are probably wondering why the cats are having such hissy fits aren't you?

Was I pulling their tails? NOPE!

Was I not feeding them their favorite canned food?

NOPE again!

They are having MAJOR hissy fits because of THIS!



Meet Topher. My son "rescued" him from a pet store. And he is taking the house by storm!



He (like Dink, but so NOT like Tori!) also as an affectionate personality. He comes up to you and rubs his face across your cheek. He "talks" constantly! And of course, being that he still has some kitten in him, he LOVES to play. That's why you are seeing pictures of him peaking out from behind my fake potted fern. (YES! I said FAKE! Shoot me now! I have fake plants in my house! TSK! TSK! I hear the artificial plant police heading to my house as I type!)



HE, for the most part, is settling in quite well. He keeps wanting to play with Tori and Dink, and doesn't understand what all the uproar is about.



"LOOK MAN!" I just want to be friends! OK? Can we get our "PLAY" on now?

As you can see, Dink is handling it MUCH better than Tori. (She won't let him, or anyone else within five feet of her.) He has actually gotten to where he will play with him every once in a while. I am sure that Dink will be much happier to oblige him in a game of chase, once Topher has been declawed. That would then make the "fight" (I mean GAME!) much more even, since both Dink and Tori have had their front paws declawed. (SHOOT! Here come the ANTI-declawing police TOO! - I think it's time to go and hide in my secret closet! Which, is actually the pantry, because I don't like to hide for long periods of time without my favorite Chocolate Vanilla Creme Pop-Tarts!)

But, before I go, I want to leave you with this picture!



EEK! That's SCARY! He appears to have gotten in on the hissy fit action too, doesn't he?

NAW! He is only yawning in this picture! Not throwing the hissy fits that the other two were. The only time he hisses is when Shelby comes around. I guess he wasn't around big dogs in his last home.

Like I said before, he is pretty mellow. He just wants to have fun! But, I must warn you! Don't blow in his face, or even remotely in his direction, (which I do often, because I think his reaction is hilarious) because he will jump out of the chair, fly across the room, and attack your leg!

YES! I brush my teeth first! (USUALLY!)

Finished!

I just finished Breaking Dawn!

It was GREAT!

My eyes feel like they are going to fall out of my head though! LOL!

Breaking Dawn!

Yes! I bought my copy of it! But, I have not started reading it yet! Why? Well, partly because I don't want the story to end! I've gotten so drawn into the characters. I would be perfectly happy reading about Edward, Bella, and Jacob for FOREVER! LOL!

And, I was also waiting for Mr. Mister to leave on his trip. I know that once I start reading, that I won't want to stop. You can pretty much forget about the laundry, dishes, dinner, or anything else! LOL!

I'm thinking I will probably start it tonight. I have too! Brat Girl is giving me grief, because she is almost done, and keeps wanting to talk to me about it.

So, if you see me, and I have bloodshot eyes, you know why! LOL

Christmas Notebook!

IT'S THAT TIME! Christmas Notebook starts up today! There are only 146 days left until Christmas! Have you started thinking about it yet?

Rhonda will be taking subscription requests for a couple more weeks, but then you will have to wait until next year, if you don't get into this years session.

So, hop on over to Rhonda's blog and tell her you want to sign up, or visit the yahoo group and send your request that way! Hurry! It will be here before you know it!

The Lake!

I'm back! Did you miss me? No? I didn't think so! LOL!

I ran off to the lake with a friend. It was one of those vacations, where, as soon as you arrive, you can feel yourself relaxing.

The house was decorated in colors reflecting nature. Colors, that you experienced when you sat out on the deck. There was brown, that reminded you of the sand down by the dock. Blue, which was reminiscent of the lake. And green, that brought the lush, colorful, landscape indoors.

Of course, the view was amazing!



You could just sit there, and stare at it for hours.

But, we didn't sit there for too long! There was fun to be had! Even our four legged companions wanted in on it!



The day we arrived was the hottest day of the season. So, we let the dogs hop into the lake and cool off. (They LOVE the water!) After that, it was time to take the boat out for a spin.



While waiting to get on board, I started taking pictures of the setting sun. It was beautiful.



Once the boat was ready, we headed out toward open water. The cove where we were staying was a "no wave" area, so we had to go slow until we passed the "now you can rock & roll" markers. LOL!

It was so much fun! Speeding across the water, with the wind blowing in my face. It was exhilarating! I wanted to stay out there forever, zipping in and out of all of the different coves. But, the sun was sinking lower in the sky, and we didn't have a light on the boat, so we headed back to the dock.



The rest of the evening was spent chatting, watching a little TV, and planning what we wanted to do in the upcoming days.

The next morning we got up, and ate pancakes with lots of butter, syrup, and whipped cream on them! YUM!

Then, we piled into the truck, and headed to town. We needed groceries, and we wanted to visit a few antique stores. We quickly discovered that almost every store we wanted to go to, was closed on Mondays. (That is how they do things in small towns!) We did manage to find one antique store open. So, we got to wander up and down rows filled with dusty, old goodies.

Later, we went to a locally owned peach orchard, where you can pick your own peaches. It is run by a husband and wife. The orchards are behind their home.



My friend had been there before, and wanted me to see the gardens that the wife had planted. They were AMAZING! I was in total AWE! I told her that she needs to make up a garden plan, that includes a list of all of her plants, and sell it to all of her envious customers! LOL! She was so sweet! She even let us take a few pictures.

I caught this butterfly soaking up the sun.



And this bee buzzing from flower to flower.



She even had flowers climbing up her lamp post. And a cool red chair.



Everywhere you turned, you were treated to a spectacular view. But, I have to say that the best part was the shed! LOOK at this shed!



Isn't it the cutest thing you have ever seen? I LOVE the blue door! I WANT THIS SHED!



Seeing this garden, made me want to come home, and plant all kinds of pretties! I wonder if I can talk Mr. Mister into a blue door? Hmmmmmmmm!

While out in the peach orchards, we noticed that there were some buffalo right next to them. We walked over to take some pictures.



I felt so bad for them. They looked SO hot. And there were bugs flying all around, and landing on their faces.



Poor things!

Back to the truck we went. Where we proceeded to travel down quiet country roads, until we found this old barn.



I always wonder about the history of old barns like these. If they could tell you their story, what would it be?

After taking a few pictures of the barn, we went back to the house.

My friend kept teasing me, telling me how wonderful the water would be, if I ever decided to get into it! At first, I kept saying NO! I'm not going into the water. But, it got so hot, that my adamant NO soon turned into a YES.

After borrowing shorts and a swimming suit top, (NOT a pretty picture! LOL) I worked my way into the water. I was surprised at how warm it was. The depth finder on the boat was reading it at 90+ degrees. It felt like bath water! We floated around on our "noodles" for a while, and then decided to take the boat to another location on the lake, hoping it might be cooler.

While we were cruising around, we found my ultimate dream home. I have always wanted a log home. And this one was on the lake too! What more could you ask for? It was absolutely PERFECT!



We anchored the boat near the log home, so that I could stare at it while drifting (dog paddling) around in the water. LOL!

Since it was starting to get dark, and I wanted to take some more sunset pictures, we pulled ourselves from the lake and headed to the perfect spot to take photos. (The spot where I slipped off the back of the boat, while trying to get back into the water, and almost drowned! LOL! But, we aren't going to talk about that! Or the fact that I had "sipped" a few Jack Daniel's Lynchburg Lemonades! LOL!) The sky was awesome! The sun had clouds moving across it, that made it look like Saturn.



Another beautiful day at the lake was coming to an end. We finished it off with hot dogs, a cold drink, and fun conversation.

Rise and shine, it's a new day!

The smell of Belgium waffles, and sausage drifted through the air, as we welcomed the lazy, rainy morning. We sat with the door open, so that we could listen to the storm, while we decided what to do that day.

It was a great day to go antiquing. So, off we went!

We were hunting down crackle glass, milk glass, Princess House Crystal, and colorful dishes to make "junk art" flowers with. I am happy to report that we found some of everything.

As we were bringing our new found "treasures" back to the house, we came upon this lovely pair. Awwwwwwww! Look at them!





Check out that nasty scar he has on his side! I wonder what go a hold of him? That had to hurt!

It was our last night at the lake house. We decided to have flame grilled (not broiled) hamburgers for dinner!



Did I mention that they were flame grilled? LOL! They actually turned out great, and were delicious! We topped the meal off with peach crisp, that we made using some of the fresh peaches from the orchards we visited a few days earlier.

As with all of the vacations and trips I get to go on, I wish our time away didn't have to come to an end. But, real life calls. And that's what makes me enjoy times like this even more!

Carpet Cleaning , Coupons, & Mini Stockpile!

This is what I have been doing! O JOY! (I have been working in sections because I don't like walking on wet carpet.)



I don't understand why companies don't make LARGER water tanks on these things! I mean, COME ON! I know that it would make the machines bigger and bulkier, but it drives me absolutely BONKERS having to make five million trips to the bathroom, so that I can dump the dirty water, and refill the clean water tank again! UGH!

I also don't know why they have to put such LIGHT colored carpet into new houses! (It had already been ordered, when we bought the house, so we couldn't change it without paying extra) It gets so dirty! Especially, with a dog, two cats, and six humans constantly walking all over it!

Hopefully, one day soon, we will be checking out the prices on wood/laminate floors, because I want all of the carpet GONE!

OK! I will stop with my carpet tantrum. LOL!

Next subject: COUPONS!

I'm slowly catching on! To the "coupon game." I have been scouring a lot of blogs, and other websites for information on how to save money using coupons. There are so many great resources. A new favorite of mine is Money Saving Mom. On the left sidebar she has links for beginners. She explains everything really well.

It seems that everyone loves CVS, because they offer Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) on certain purchases. When you purchase the product, the ECB's print out on your receipt, and you can use that toward your next purchase. I actually did my first transaction yesterday. I bought two items that were .99 cents each and I received the .99 cents (X 2) back in ECB's. I also bought two items at $1.49 each, and I received the $1.49 (X 2) back in ECB's. So, those four items were essentially "free" (I did pay tax on them) after I earned the ECB's. (What would have made the deal even sweeter, was if, I had some coupons for the items that I purchased. Then it would have been like CVS owed "me" money for buying the items. Of course, they don't give you money back, but if you had other items you were purchasing at the same time, the amount "owed" would have gone toward those items. NOTE: Some stores do not allow you to use "overages.") If you want to know more about how it works, you can read about it on Money Saving Mom's website.

I also did pretty darn good (if I do say so myself! LOL) at Target the other day. They had specific General Mills cereals on sale for 4/$7.00. I also had two manufacturer's coupons for $1.00 off of two boxes of GM cereal. So, they were already on sale for $1.75 per box (which is good) but, then I got an additional .50 cents off each box by using my coupons. This made them only $1.25 per box. After tax, I walked out the door with four boxes of cereal for only $5.12. YAY!

I know that the "PRO" couponers out there, are figuring out ways to get even better deals on the cereal, but since I am still new at all of this, I think that I am doing good so far.

Also, most of the people who are serious about using coupons, start stockpiling excess product. They have gotten to the point, where they have enough shampoo or toothpaste, that they don't "have" to use the coupons they have collected right away. They are then, able to save that coupon until a "rock bottom" sale price comes along. That is when they will purchase multiples of an item (because they will usually have more than one coupon) to stockpile for future use. It is AMAZING to see some of the stockpiles that people have. Many have a room dedicated to storing all of it. You can check out quite a few photgraphs HERE! (Some of the photographs are no longer on the site, but keep scrolling through the messages and you will see more.) I think some of them could open their own store! LOL!

I don't know if I will go that deeply into stockpiling. There are certain things like: laundry soap, dish soap, fabric softener, toilet paper, etc. that I would like to have multiples of, but I don't need 50 boxes of fruit chews, because my kids are grown, and they don't eat them anymore. LOL!

MANY of these people donate regularly to food pantries, homeless shelters, and other places in need. They are able to "pay it forward" without breaking "their" budgets, because they are getting most of it for free, or close to it, after using coupons on sale items.

Now, having mentioned stockpiles, I do have to admit that I already have a stockpile of mini toiletries. Whenever we stay at a hotel (which is often for Mr. Mister) we save all of the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. and bring it home. I actually got this idea from Christopher Lowell. LOL! He gathers those items and puts them into a basket in his guest room.

Well, even with us using some of it, we still have plenty for our guest room. We have also sent some to my mother, and to Mr. Mister's mother.

Here is our mini stockpile! (This is not all of it! LOL) (YES! The buffet still has the grime all over it, from sitting in the antique store. I haven't gotten back to wiping it down yet.)



Here is most of it in plastic containers. (I need more containers to put all those white shower cap boxes, and soap into.)



Some hotels even give you cool things like sewing kits, shoe polish cloths, and shoe horns. (See the first plastic tote, on the left. LOL!) We have also collected coffee and tea. They are the perfect size for one person. (These can also be put into your guest room, along with a small (one or two cup) coffee maker.)