The tale of the tag

This post will be a story full of crazy details. Hard to follow sometimes, but all true!

We moved to PA in July. Our car tags were up for renewal in October. I am a procrastinator. I wait until the end of October to go renew the tags for both cars. I call around to find the closest tag place only to find out that PA only has a couple-for the whole state. If you are not lucky enough to live near one, you'll have to go to an "approved" tag agency. BUT each agency will tack on an extra fee for their trouble. The best rate we find is AAA, but you have to be a member to be able to get a tag. Charles becomes a member of AAA. We then find out that we must have a PA drivers licence in order to get a PA car tag. I find the drivers licence office and head over, knowing that our time is quickly running out. Oops. The drivers licence office is only open (get this) two days a week. Wednesday and Saturday. I went on a Thursday. We go back on Saturday to find out that Saturday is only for people who have renewed their licence on line and need a photo id taken. We plan to go next Wednesday. Nope. That is a holiday, they are closed. In double checking that I have all the correct paperwork assembled to get said drivers licence and I discover that my car title is missing. Cannot find it anywhere. So I call the Florida agency to find out what to do. They send me the paperwork to fill out. While waiting for that, another Wednesday rolls around. Charles heads over to the drivers licence office only to be told that the proof of residency we have will not work. The only thing we can get is a signed letter from the Postmaster saying that we receive mail at our address. Charles rushes back to Covington from Wellsboro, a half hour drive, then back again, just before they close and gets his driver's licence. But, alas, it is too late to make it to AAA to get the tag. Now we are well into November, so both of our cars have expired tags. Not too many police in the area, but we are avoiding them like the plague. I have to go back to Florida for work and while down there the paperwork arrives to fill out to get my title reissued. I ask Charles to fill it out, write out a check and send it in for me. He does. He also goes to AAA to get his tag. All is well, by the end of November he is an official PA driver! He passes his car inspection and he is golden! I come home from Florida and wait for my title in the mail. A few weeks later two letters come from the Florida office. One is a check with a letter stating that they do not know what the check is for since it came alone in an envelope. The second is another check and a letter stating that we have a lien on my car and we need the lienholders information. NO! We paid cash for my car, so we own it. I call. Charles had written the VIN number wrong-he wrote a "Z" instead of an "S". Cripes! I have to re-fill out the form and send it back in. Christmas has come and gone. I now have to get my own PA driver's licence, so I wait for a Wednesday to roll around and head over. I get up to the counter and the nice man behind the counter waits while I hunt, and hunt and hunt for my Social Security card. It is not in my wallet! I look for it at home and guess what, no Social Security card. I have to apply for one to be sent to me. I find the SS Administration office and head over. Oops! The people who work the SSA only come in (wait for it...)once a month! Ah, rural living! I wait for the month to come back around again, and head over to the SSA office again. Oh, yes, they do come today, but they only stay until 12pm. Since I had arrived at 1:30, I had missed them. Really?! I am so frustrated by this point and because I am feeling like a total criminal driving around on a very expired tag, I decide to drive to Corning (45 minutes away) to the "big" SSA office and get it there. The man from the driver's licence office said that all I needed to get my licence was the paper that they will print at the SSA office. I go to Corning, request that they print a verification of my request and on the next non-holiday Wednesday I am at the driver's licence office with my stack of paperwork. I give it all to the man behind the counter when he informs me that the paper that the Corning office gave me isn't the right one. Ummmm...what?! Feeling like I have slipped into an episode of the Twilight Zone and have just realized this I can only nod when he suggest that I just wait for my new SS card to come in the mail. Valentine's Day and Groundhog Day come and go. My SS card arrives and I go back to the man at the driver's licence office bright and early the next Wednesday morning. I have all my paperwork and leave with a shiny new, temporary PA driver's licence. But since my car title is a) in Charles' name and b) not in my hot little hands, all I can do is wait for it. I had filled it all out this time myself and mailed it off to Florida. A few weeks after I mailed it I got a call from the Florida agency saying that I forgot to put in proof that I now live in PA. Holy crap! The nice lady says that she'll accept a fax if I can get it over soon. I do and within a week I have my car title! Yeah! I tell Charles that he needs to get back over to AAA to get my tag since it is now MARCH and I cannot avoid the police forever! He gets all my paperwork and heads to AAA last Saturday while I was cropping with new friends. He calls me to tell me that AAA isn't open on Saturday. Am I insane? He says that he'll leave early next week to take care of it. Fine. So, on Monday early evening, I get a call from Charles saying that the AAA office closes in 1/2 hour and that he left the papers he needs on the dining room table. He is headed to AAA and would I please grab what he needs and run it over to him. Wellsboro is a 1/2 of an hour away. I am in "shut in" clothes-flip flops, shorts, t-shirt-sans bra! He says he doesn't care, I can stay in the car. I grab and go! I am flying to Wellsboro and he calls to tell me he is there and wonders where I am! Um, you just called me a few minutes ago. How am I supposed to be there this soon? AND why didn't you give me a little more notice. I am trying not to get angry since I really need this tag and am willing to drive make-up-less and bra-less around town to get it! The story could get really better if I was pulled over looking the way I did with a 5-month expired tag, but it doesn't. It ends with an miffed AAA worker wondering why my husband showed up at 4:55 wanting an auto tag when they close at 5. He got the tag and it is happily screwed onto my car. Not feeling like a criminal, I hoped in the car today and Kiwi and I went for a long drive!

Project Life

The snow goes and then it comes back again. When will Spring finally be here?

I picked Kiwi up from the vets after a teeth cleaning. Boy! Her breath smells so much better now!
Charles enjoys the fire in the burning barrel.
Trying to keep lots of fresh fruit on hand for snacking.
Our UU Seder celebration. It was a very nice service and we all had a tiny part and or reading. I got to ceremoniously wash my hands for our group.
This year for Earth Hour we rushed home from a quick dinner at Eddie's, turned off all the lights, computers, etc. Lit some candles, ate jelly beans and played Scrabble. It was fun sitting in the dark and going green for an hour with the rest of the world!

When did this happen?

I like to read. I am a fast reader. Or that is, if I am into a book, I read a lot in a day. Just ask Dianne when I came to visit the Doodle last time-I started and finished Breaking Dawn in between all the craziness of hosting the crop, etc.

I am going to admit something here that not a lot of people know, but when I was a teenager I started to read....(gulp!)...Harlequin romance books. I know....I know! Not the most enlightening read, but I did enjoy them. In fact I read them faithfully well into my 20's. So every now and then I get a hankering for a good old sappy romance. Predictable happy ending. Romance. Hunky dude. All good things in my book. What I remember about the genre was that I was truly not a Harlequin reader, but a Silhouette reader. Specifically the Silhouette "Special Edition". They were a bit longer than the regular ones, a bit more plot and most importantly, more romance! Well, the other day I was walking down the book/magazine aisle at WalMart and I got a hankering. So I picked up a couple of titles that looked interesting. WalMart didn't offer any Silhouette titles, only Harlequin. They were all of the "thinner" variety that I remember not liking as much as my "Special Editions"-but "what the heck", I thought. (Feel free to laugh at me at any moment of this story!) I started reading the book-a "suspense" romance. It started off OK, but the plot was extremely thin. The resolution of the suspense was boring. They only kissed two times. And not for very long. There was no "you-know-what" happening at all. AND there was no big moment at the end where they pledged love and devotion. Never once did either of them say or think the word "love". Huh?!? I put the book down and sat looking at it disgusted. What just happened here? I gave them four of my favorite dollars for this? I could have watched a couple of re-runs of Friends and had more romance!

So, my questions to my blogging universe is this: Have all books in this genre dialed it down and turned into Romance-Lite? Is WalMart only selling the PG versions of these books? When did this happen?

I'm gonna have to pop Love Actually in the DVD player to try to cancel out this negative romantic episode! Bleech!

Lovely people, lovely evening...

Last fall, maybe around November, Charles was out walking up the street on his bear adventure with our neighbor's boy, Forrest. Another neighbor from further up the hill stopped and introduced himself to Charles. He wanted to welcome us to the area and tell Charles that his wife thought our chihuahuas were cute. They both agreed that we should all get together sometime. When Charles told me this, I started to bug him to call our neighbors. And then pester him... What month is this? March? My powers of persuasion must be failing, because that took WAY too long for him to call and set up an evening. Well, tonight was finally the night. We had the Dietrich's over for supper and spent a lovely 4 hours eating and chatting! They are such a nice couple. They are so similar to us in the "dogs-as-children" catagory-only big difference is that their Pumpkin is a Pomeraian.

I made a pretty yummy supper of Deviled Chicken (Tofu for Charles and me), Potatoes Dauphine, Roasted Green Beans and the very ugly, but oh-so-yummy, Stickey Banana Bread Pudding with Whipped Cream. I sometimes have trouble with stuff dripping out of pans onto the bottom of the gas oven. When that happens smoke fills the house and I have to turn off the oven, remove the racks, let it cool down and clean it out. The pudding bubbled over and caused quite a bit of trouble this afternoon. The house filled with smoke and thankfully we were able to open up doors and windows to clear most of it out before our company arrived. That stuff is so delicious that it was worth all the smoke! I'm gonna share two of my recipes from tonight. Hope you enjoy!

Deviled Chicken (or Tofu, or Seitan, or Tempeh)

¼ cup EVOO, plus more for drizzling
4 cloves garlic, grated
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. spicy brown or Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. sweet smoked paprika
1 tbsp. hot pepper sauce
Salt & pepper
½ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 to 2 ½ lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs
2 springs rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped

Combine all the ingredients up to chicken (or what you like). Set aside 1/4 cup of marinade and place the chicken in the remaining liquid for at least 1/2 hour. Grill chicken in a bit of EVOO until done. Sprinkle with rosemary for garnish.

*Note: If you are using tofu, I like to slice extra firm tofu into about 1/4" slices. I add some olive oil (and in between the batches) to a non-stick pan and grill the heck out of 'em! I like the chared bit, so I let them grill until the edges get browned. I put a lid over the pan because this sauce in the olive oil will spatter.


Sticky Banana Bread Pudding

1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups Bisquick
1 cup nuts (almonds)
Pinch of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Oil and flour large baking pan.
Mix all ingredients together and pour into pan. Top with Brown Sugar topping (below) and bake for about 1 hour until center is set.

Brown Sugar Topping

Brown sugar
Butter, softened

Mix together equal parts and crumble on top of banana mixture.

(I cannot begin to tell you how yucky this looks while baking. It will bubble up in the pan, so make sure it is a deep one. Once it is done, it looks like a burnt and deflated mess. But I PROMISE you that it is really good! Kim Brandimore and I goofed on an original recipe and this was the result. Honestly good!)

Feelin' old...

The other day I was working in the cafetiera in lunch lady land. I was the lunchroom monitor that day and had to make the kiddies behave, eat their food and clean up. As I was walking around and monitoring the situations I overheard a funny kid "working" his crowd of kids at his table. He was so cute. Until...

This kid started doing this routine where he poped up his shirt collar and did this weird walk. He was shifting his shoulders back and forth really exagerated and kind-of struting while he walked. He had his eyebrows raised and while he is moving his shoulders he is making these random gestures with his hands. The kids at his table are laughing. He WAS funny! Then he says, "Who am I?" I thought it was a pretty funny impression of Elvis and I waited for someone to guess that. When no one answers he says, "I'm a guy from the 80's." WHAT?! I think "from the 80's?!!" I'm not old enough from my generation to be spoofed in a lunchroom! By a supremely UN-funny kid. Aarrgg...

Project Life

Life is simply good. Mile high pie and sunshine. How could it get any better!?

Luna, the reformed Barn Kitty, lounges in a basket!
The last little sliver of snow left in our yard. See the green? Yahooo!!
Charles meets up with a new friend on one of his weekend hikes.
The river that was the bottom of the drive/front yard when the snow was melting off of the mountain! That was pretty cool!
Ann is working that red vest!
Mile high lemon pie from the Wellsboro Diner. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their pie selections!!
Some beautiful ribbon roses from my favorite store...TrimTex! Wish they were closer and I'd take all my croppers when they are here in April.
The dogs enjoy a nice moment in the sun! Can you say "happy puppies"?
The ice cream stores are opening back up! Yeah! Love Rita's Gelati cups!

My lovely kiddywinkies! Let me say this again...do good. Be the good in the world. Be nice to each other. Smile. Use words and actions to build each other up. Take responsibility if you do or say something wrong or hurtful. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! Be tolerant of another person's beliefs-you may not agree, you may even vehemently disagree, but be tolerant. We don't have to agree, just COEXIST!

This post is intended for those of you who are attending the "There's Something About Spring" Weekend Crop up here in beautiful downtown Wellsboro. This post will be chock full of information about a bunch of things, some for all croppers, some for traveling croppers and some for local croppers. Hope you can find something of help for you here. This is a LONG post...sorry!

What to expect, temperature wise:

-I am going on the weather history from Weather Underground. Having never been up here in April, that is the best I can do.
-In 2009 the high was 52 and the low was 27.
-The average high is 62 and the low is 36.
-When I ask locals, all say we will have green grass. There are different responses about green on trees.
-Some locals warn that they have had snow on Easter. Even snowed once on Mother's Day. Just FYI!
-You WILL need cooler weather clothes!
-The air is much more "dry" than we Florida girls are used to. Make sure to bring GOOD moisturizer!


What supplies I'll have available:

-QuicKutz Revolution and Squeeze.
-QuicKutz shape and alphabet dies.
-Cricut.(I have never used this machine, so someone will need to tell me what accessories I'll need to bring.)
-A few of Cricut cartridges. (If you need a list, let me know) One of the local gals who may be attending on Saturday is in an informal "swarm" and may be persuaded to bring more cartridges.)
-Punches. These are cumbersome, so if you know you will need a specific shape, just let me know and I'll bring it along. I mostly have basic shapes, not fancy ones.
-Two notebooks of acrylic alphabets and shapes.
-A few peg stamp alphabets.
-Circle cutter.
-Crop-A-Dile.
-Un-du. (It will be confiscated from your luggage.)

Of course, I have tons more supplies, so if there is something you KNOW you will need, just let me know and I'll add it to my list. Please do not feel like you have to bring your own, heavy tools. I am more than happy to bring what I have!

Suitcase Packing Tips (from a very frequent and varied traveling cropper!):

-For airplane travel I always pack my basic and most used tools and supplies in a Cropper Hopper Flat Pack. You can get them sometimes from Target or ask Jill/Jo to order for you. These close flat and fit easily in a suitcase. They hold a lot and stuff doesn't fall out. They hold a 12" trimmer! If you have one and decided to use it, let me know and I can take some photos of mine all packed up and send them to you.
-Make sure that ALL of your liquids or gels are put inside baggies. Even in your luggage. This includes glue, Stickles, inks, Glimmer Mists, etc. Listen up! This is very important! Any OPENED bottles of Scrappy Glue (in their original bottles) will ooze. I have had Scrappy Glue cover the inside of my case and glued the zipper on my Flat Pack closed! My suggestion if you want to travel with Scrappy Glue is to either transfer it to a new bottle or find a new top that twists to open and close. And do NOT bring (carry on or checked) any Un-Du. They will take it from you!
-Do not take any tools in your carry on. They will confiscate most anything, so just check it all.
-I have an over the shoulder (long strap) tote bag that holds 12x12 sized items. This is one of my carry ons. It usually holds an album or planned out pages. I also slip a couple of magazines in this tote. Just remember that the connecting flight is a schlep, so don't pack so much that it's a burden to carry! For this reason I suggest a small rolling cart to help tote your luggage between terminals. I think a few of you could share one. Here is a nice one, the Micro by Samsonite.
-Shoes take up a lot of room and weight. My advice is to plan your clothes around two pair. One on your feet, the other in the suitcase. It is hard to do, but worth it!
-Put all your toiletry items in Ziplocs. Especially if you are packing your scrapbooking supplies in your suitcase. All gels, lotions, liquids, powders....all of it.
-With all the weight restrictions, I never take full size anymore. Get some refillable bottles to add your shampoos, etc. into. The things you cannot transfer over get the travel size of. I know it is expensive, but it is more to check a second suitcase!
-If you plan on shopping or going home with more than you come with you have a couple of choices. One would be to under pack coming up here (HA!) and using the extra space/weight for going home. Another would be to pack another suitcase/collapsible that you can fill and check as a second piece of luggage. Between all of you, you could share the suitcase and the extra cost. Or you could take over anything "extra" to the post office and mail it back home to yourself.
-Use very distinctive luggage tags. Or spray paint a big "S" on the side of your suitcase. -If you have not flown in awhile, remember that in your carry on you are restricted to 3 oz. containers of liquids/gels. These containers must all fit into one quart-sized Ziploc. This needs to be pulled out and put in the X-ray bin by itself. Their rule-3-1-1...3 ounces, 1 baggie, 1 person.
-Snacks. Well, you know that I love snacks. Airplanes do not feed you unless you purchase their snack boxes. Don't do this! Depending on your layover and what time you are traveling, you can usually grab something in the terminal. I love Au Bon Pain shops. Their food is fantastic and QUICK! I don't know if they are in every airport, but watch out for them. You do not need to pack snacks for the crop. If you need them, get them up here!

About your motel and surrounding area:

-The motel is located directly across the street from the Fire Annex Social Hall. The street is busy for our area, so you can cross there and risk it, or walk a 1/2 block to the intersection.
-Directly (and I do mean directly) behind the Annex is a grocery store, a CVS, Dunkin' Donuts and McDonalds.
-The hotel offers free Wi Fi. I do not have a working laptop to offer, so y'all may want to talk amongst yourselves and decide if you need a laptop and who wants to bring one.
-Also at the hotel is an indoor, heated pool. A dry sauna. Workout equipment. In each room a hairdryer, a mini fridge, a mini microwave and a coffee pot. There is also a TV w/ VCR and in the lobby they have videos to borrow.
-I am sending y'all a link to an area map that I created with our "hot spots" marked. http://www.communitywalk.com/wellsboro/pa/wellsborospring_crop/map/492376

About the crop room:

-It is big. More than big enough for us!
-I will set up separate tables for cropping and eating so we won't have to move our crop stuff around to sit and eat.
-The tables are regular "rental" tables. If they look too bad, I'll be covering them with kraft paper. If you own a craft mat, you might want to bring it.
-Chairs are padded folding chairs.
-Lighting looked good for cropping, but there are tons of electrical outlets so if you need to bring your Ott light, go ahead. I'll bring some extension cords.
-There are three bathrooms for ladies. There will be no men folk, so I guess we could use theirs too if necessary!
-There is a big, commercial kitchen that I'll be using to prepare your meals.
-There is a hut that is used as a bar. I'm sure we'll be using it as a bar too! This is totally BYOB, so feel free!
-I will have background music playing.

Tips to make cropping more comfortable:

-Dress in layers. My motto is: When you get 2 women in a room you can never get the temperature right for them all!
-Once again, I do not have control of the thermostat, so please bring a light (or heavy!) sweater. Wear socks! Maybe have a long sleeve shirt. Just be prepared!
-Sitting for long periods of time puts strain on your lower back, so I always suggest to bring a small "something" that can be used as a foot stool. A shoebox, a rubbermaid tote, whatever. It really saves your back!
-The Annex has drink ware, but they do NOT have lids. I know most people do not like open containers on crop spaces, so if you want to bring an insulated (no drips), lidded cup that is always a good idea.
-I will have plenty of food, but if there is a snack that you NEED to crop, then by all means bring it! Or if you are flying in, then there is a CVS, a grocery store (Bi-Lo) and a health food store very nearby, so you can stock up on what you need.

Packing for the crop:

It is a proven fact that the more you bring, the less you get done. I have seen this over and over. The girls who bring everything except the kitchen sink, they spend all their time sorting and going through their stuff. If they had just spent some time at home in between loads of laundry, while watching TV, etc. putting together their page/album kits, they would get much more accomplished. Here is what you should be doing NOW!
-Getting either Pages In Progress envelopes from Cropper Hopper or gallon-sized Ziplocs.
-Get your photos (if you are doing layouts).
-If you are like me, get your "inspiration". Copy a layout from a magazine, sketch out your own layout, etc.
-Match your photos to your blueprint.
-Now go "shopping". Either in your own supplies or at your favorite store. What you are doing is matching your paper, cardstock, embellishments, titles, etc. Once you have all that, add some journaling points and put it all (including photos and blueprint) into your Ziploc/Pages In Progress envelope.
-If you are doing layouts, I say that for basic layouts I can do one, two page spread in 1 hour. 2 if it is complicated. Calculate how many hours you will be in the crop room, then divide by 2. I will use the 2 hour formula, because at crops I do a lot of socializing too, so I have to figure that in too! So if you plan on being in the crop room for 10 hours, then you should have 5 kits. I always add in an extra one or two just in case I either work fast or loose my mojo for a layout.
-Bring a sticky note pad, so that if you forget something or need to add something from home, it will be easy to remember.
-If you are planning on doing a mini album or projects. Do the same thing. Just get a deeper envelope (Cropper Hopper has these too!) to hold your papers and embellishments.
-If you plan on working on your Project Life book, what I did for mine is I "shopped" my supplies and slipped the little embellishments directly into the page protectors. I make another Ziploc with sticker letters, ribbons, word rub-ons, etc. in a general theme and colors that match the book. Then I just went page to page and got TONS done at the last crop.
-However you pack, just try to do as much pre-planning as possible!

Airport transportation:
-I am still waiting on flight information from Cynthia and Julie. I need to know when you arrive so we can plan your pick up. It costs a LOT more if you are traveling alone on the airport shuttle! Please send that information ASAP!
-As is stands right now, I have the loan of Charles' company van. I will be able to pick up the group traveling together and all your luggage when you arrive. Y'all will just have to chip in for gas. This is subject to any of their salesmen needing it, so if it changes I will let you know. Be prepared to bring some cash if we need to get the shuttle van.

Miscellaneous tips:

-Wellsboro is a walking city. Be prepared to walk a bit. Everything is very close and easy walking distance, but just be ready to walk.
-Wellsboro is also a safe city. Let's put it this way...since 2001 there has been 1 person murdered (tenant on landlord deal...sorry Kim!!). You are perfectly safe walking around in the evening/night, back and forth from the motel to the annex and around town.
-Everything except the couple of bars in Wellsboro close up at 8pm. There are no late night DQ runs. If you need a late night WalMart run (they are open 24 hours) then you'll need to drive 1/2 hour into Mansfieild.
-There are a couple of local coffee shops in Mansfield and some more shopping (2 great junktique stores). But again, this is 1/2 hour away and you'll need a car!
-If you are flying in, then you need to know that the leg of your flight that is to/from Elmira will be on a smaller plane. Not a big deal until you connect. You have to get from the "little plane side" of the airport to the "big plane side" I barely made it in a 45 minute connection. If you connect in Detroit, make sure to GET ON THE EXPRESS TRAIN. Also if you connect in Detroit, enjoy the weird tunnel!!

I think that is about it! Whew! If I have forgotten anything or you still have some questions, please feel free to ask. You have my email address!

See you guys really soon!

Zach Monologue

Click on this for another funny video. Zach Galifianakis hosted SNL on Saturday and his monologue was great!

Zach Monologue

Handsome Men's Club

A friend of mine posted this on FB and I thought it was too funny not to share here!

Do good.

That's it....just "DO GOOD".

There's Something About Spring Weekend Crop...THE MENU!

Hey there all you lucky croppers coming up in April! I just wanted to let you know that I'm posting the menu early so you can make any necessary meal plans if what I am serving doesn't meet any dietary restrictions you have. I do always offer a vegetarian (not vegan) version of the meals. Let me know if you are a vegetarian or would prefer the veggie version for any of the meals.

Friday, breakfast: Fruit, Yogurt & Granola Parfaits with coffee and juice.

Friday, lunch: Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches or Veggie BBQ, Mom's Macaroni Salad, Chips and an Ice Cream Sandwich

Friday, dinner: (Timeless Destinations with a pre-set menu)

Friday, late night snack: Cheesy Popcorn & Classic Candies

Saturday, breakfast: Blueberry Pancakes & Bacon or Facon with coffee and juice.

Saturday, lunch: (Not included, I would recommend the Wellsboro Diner)

Saturday, afternoon snack: Citrus San Pellegrino & Sherbert Floats and Hot Pretzels with Dip

Saturday, dinner: Baked Eggplant Parmesan Crisps (appetizer), Dijon Grilled Chicken or Dijon Grilled Quorn, Twice Baked Potatoes, Roasted Veggies & Rolls

Saturday, late(er) dessert: Dark Chocolate Fondue Station with lots of "dunkers"

Sunday, breakfast: Orangescicle Smoothies and Sausage, Egg & Cheese Cups or Veggie Sausage, Egg & Cheese Cups

Sunday, lunch: Spinach & Feta Brunch Rings, Fresh Fruit and Flourless Cupcakes with Vanilla Ice Cream

Each day I'll have assorted drinks like: Flavored Iced Teas, Lemonade, Coffee, Hot Chocolate, Water and some Sodas.

Project Life photos

I love antiquing. I found these really cool old wooden spools, a set of globe bookends and a mini cocktail shaker!
Charles goes to Elmira to listen to a former Mayor from Texas speak about gas well drilling and the effects on a community. Very interesting...
The tracks on the right are from Charles. The tracks on the left are from a rabbit. And if your compare the two, you will notice as I did that this was a giant, mutant rabbit!!
I get a ladies evening out at a Pampered Chef party. Great fun and got to meet some great new folks!
My official first "Snow Day" off from school. And the second day of the biggest snow storm we've had since I've been up here. We got a total of 17" in our yard!
Charles gets a snow day the next day...except he had to actually work from home.
Flat Stanley arrives! I get to show him all around our fair city. Cannot wait!
I've finally got a photo of the "gruel diet" food. Charles is officially on a diet so he'll eat this stuff that I call gruel for dinner. Chocolate protein powder, peanut butter and soy milk. Tonight he added some nuts.
Tubing down the "slopes" at Sawmills Ski Resort. It was a total blast! We didn't even have to tote the tubes up ourselves. There was a "tube lift" that you hooked onto that drug you and your tube up the hill! It was the best $6 I've spent!

Who's that whispering in my ear...

I do not often tell stories about my days at HSN, but the other day I was thinking about a funny story and wanted to share.

So about a half hour before a person was scheduled to go live on air, you had to meet with the folks who put your mic pack on. This involved them lifting up your shirt at the back and attaching the pack to the waistband of your pants. Then they would reach up the back of your shirt and out at the neck to place the ear piece in your ear and tape the wire down. Then they would come around front and feed the microphone wire up the front of your shirt and attach it somewhere to your shirt front and tape the extra wire down under your shirt. This was all pretty intimate. For the "celebrity" guests they would do this in the privacy of their personal green room. For us "regular joe" guests they would do this in either the "regular joe" green room or in the hallway just outside their office. There were a few different technicians who would be on at different times and one guy in particular was my favorite because I could really joke with him. And being the smarty pants that I am I started the jokes the first time he put his hands up my shirt! I said, "Gee. Usually a dude would have to at least buy my supper before getting to second base!" He turned bright red and our joke-affair began! I was constantly asking him about how "celebrities" reacted to this procedure. He said that they are really used to it and pay him no attention. I would joke and say things like, "You've touched one of the holy grails of American icons. How did it feel to touch the silky shorts of Richard Simmons?" Or, "Does Lauren Hutton wear a thong?" He never really answered my questions, he would just chuckle and sometimes get red. One time I told him that I had gotten a new tattoo on my lower back and wanted his opinion. So when he lifted my shirt and saw the Sharpie-marker drawing that my friend had made that had an arrow pointing towards my behind and said, "Insert mic pack here" he just cracked up! I would like to think that I was his most fun guest, but I'll bet he's seen it all...

But the real story here is that ear piece. That is used while you are live on air to tell you things like, "Tilt the box more towards the camera." Or, "Mention how many have sold." Besides cameras being pointed at you, there are also TV monitors pointed at you so that you can see exactly what the viewers are seeing. You are able to adjust what you are holding for a better camera angle, etc. Well, I wasn't really nervous about going on live TV. They do not tell you what to say, just give you product details and you have to come up with all the benefits and features that are talked about on your own. But if you are missing something the guys in the control room will tell you, in your ear, while live, what to remember to say. THIS is what made me nervous. I was supposed to keep up a constant stream of chatter, demonstrate how the product worked, remember all the facts, watch my camera angles, watch out for the "walking cameraman" and his cable, smile, keep track of how many were being sold AND then listen to what they were feeding me in my ear. I was nervous that I would answer back or stop talking to listen to them. It freaked me out the first few times it happened. They knew that I was new, so they would say, "Great job." Or, "You are almost sold out." Nice things. I never, ever saw or met these people. I would pass the control room, but the windows that looked out on to the hallway were blackened so I could never see in there. And I never saw anyone coming or going from that booth, so I never said "Hi" face to face. Only over that mic/ear piece. OK...here is the funny part of the story. I had to make the samples that I used on-air. The page layouts that I showed I had created at home using photos from my stash and sometimes from friend's stashes. I had a kit that was called, "All Boys" and of course, I borrowed some photos of Henry from Stacey for my samples. She gave me one classic shot of Henry when he was a little dude standing on top of the seat of a tricycle, with a towel tied around his neck like a cape and NO underwear on. It was the funniest photo and I used it. So my layout was pretty cute, but the title of the page is what was the stand out. It read, "Captain NO Underpants". I thought it was funny, sure. But I wasn't sure how much people really paid attention to that. I mean, the samples just have a few seconds of air time, so who would notice the title and the fact that H had NO underpants on? So here I am talking away about the features of this product..."This kit includes 340 letters, 54 sheets of boy themed paper, ..." while flipping through my samples. Then a male voice in my ear says, "Captain no underpants? Captain NO underpants!!? That is hysterical!" and then just starts to laugh and laugh in my ear. I had to continue on extolling the virtues of this kit while this guy has officially lost it in my ear and the host, hearing the same stuff, is just looking at me with a grin on her face. AND this was maybe my second or third time live on the air.

My days at HSN were sure interesting and FUN! I had a grand education in those hallways and studios! My saddest regret is that my DVR from Bright House crapped out and lost all the saved shows with me on them...I think the only visual record I have is a photo Stacey took for Henry watching Aunt Cissy on TV. (HEY! Stace, I need a copy of that if you can find it.)

Post Script...Oh the glamour!!

Toss Ten Tuesday

Three months into this project and happily I am running out of things to toss "topside". "Topside". That's funny to me! Being raised in Florida we only got to see basements when we visited some friends in New Jersey, so I'm not comfortable quite yet with the vernacular. What I know of top vs. bottom in a living arrangement sort of way, is boat lingo. My dad was a fisherman all his life and we grew up on and around boats, so in our new northern home I call the upper, living floor "topside" and the basement "below" or "below deck". Charles thinks I'm a kook with I ask, "Can you light the pellet stove below deck for me?" or "I need to take these boxes topside." So next month I'll be headed below to maybe find some things in my scrap space (gulp!) or in the storage boxes to toss.

Still feeling great about this project. It helps to watch an episode of Hoarders right before you pick stuff to toss!



CIAO TO WHITE, PLASTIC FLIP FLOPS! YOU ALWAYS LOOK DIRTY. I REALLY DO NOT WANT A PAIR OF CHEAP SHOES THAT I HAVE TO CLEAN BEFORE I WEAR THEM.

CIAO TO A BROKEN MOP. I HATE TO MOP AND THAT COMES FROM MY KNACK FOR PICKING THE MOST PERFECTLY WRONG MOPS. I HAVE NEVER FOUND A MOP THAT I LIKE. YOU LOOKED PROMISING, BUT I BROKE YOU ON MAYBE YOUR SECOND ATTEMPT. I'VE KEPT YOU HANGING IN THE CLOSET IN THE HOPES THAT YOU WOULD MAGICALLY FIX YOURSELF. YOU HAVE NOT, SO CIAO!

CIAO TO SOME UNUSED CARD GAMES. I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW WHY I KEEP SO MANY BOARD GAMES, MY HUSBAND REFUSES TO PLAY THEM WITH ME. (WHICH BREAKS MY HEART!) I AM HOPING TO FIND A GROUP OF BOARD GAME PLAYERS TO JUSTIFY MY STASH, BUT IN THE MEANTIME, SOME OF THE LEAST FAVORITES WILL START TO GO. I WILL MISS YOU MOST OF ALL...

CIAO TO CHRISTMAS RIBBON. I KEEP THE RIBBON FOR A SECOND OR THIRD USE, BUT YOU GUYS WERE SO CREASED THAT I COULDN'T DO THAT.

CIAO TO SOME OLD KEY CHAINS THAT JUST ENDED UP IN MY JUNK DRAWER. HOW YOU THINGS JUST MIGRATE TO MY HOUSE I WILL NEVER KNOW, BUT I DO KNOW THAT I'LL NEVER USE YOU SO OFF YOU GO TO ANOTHER HOME.

CIAO TO THE HOT PINK SNAKE THAT CHARLES WON AT THE FABULOUS 1890'S FESTIVAL. HE WON YOU FROM A NICE SANTA-ESQUE GENTLEMAN AT THE POP-A-BALLOON BOOTH. I WARNED THAT BRINGING HOME ANY TOY WAS A BAD IDEA. THEY WERE ALL JUNKY. WE HAVE NO USE FOR TOYS. HE THOUGHT SOMEHOW THAT OUR 8 POUND CHIHUAHUA WOULD CARRY YOU AROUND AND PLAY WITH YOU. YOU ARE TOO HUGE FOR THAT AND YOU JUST SCARE HER. MAYBE A NICE GERMAN SHEPPARD WILL FIND YOU AND LOVE YOU.

CIAO TO SOME BED HEAD PRODUCT THAT HAS NEVER WORKED ON MY HAIR. YOU MAKE MY HAIR LOOK GREASY JUST OUT OF THE SHOWER. NOT GOOD. I'VE GIVEN YOU FAR TOO MANY CHANCES. I'VE EVEN TRIED SNEAKING YOU INTO CHARLES' PRODUCT AREA IN THE HOPES THAT HE'LL USE YOU. HE JUST PUT YOU BACK WITH MY STUFF SO, SORRY TO SAY, NEITHER OF US LIKE YOU.

CIAO BROKEN HAIR DRYER. CHARLES USED YOU TO DRY OUT SOME SNOW BOOTS AND BURNED OUT YOUR MOTOR. HE ACTUALLY TRIED TO PUT YOU BACK IN MY BATHROOM SUPPLIES AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED, BUT I FIGURED IT ALL OUT AND HAD TO REPLACE YOU.

CIAO GREY AND PURPLE SWEATER. YOU WERE VERY COOL IN THE EARLY 90'S, BUT I CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER FOR YOU TO COME BACK IN STYLE. I FINALLY NEED SWEATERS AND YOU JUST ARE NOT FASHIONABLE.

CIAO AND A BIG SNIFF TO MY BELOVED SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS SOCKS. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND I GUESS THAT I'VE WORN YOU TOO MANY TIMES BECAUSE YOUR ELASTIC IS SHOT. SOB. YOU DO NOT STAY UP AND END UP BUNCHED AROUND MY ANKLES. SNIFF.SNIFF. I HAVE TO HOLD YOU TO THE SAME STANDARDS THAT I HOLD ALL OTHER SOCKS IN THIS HOUSE TO-ONCE YOUR ELASTIC IS SHOT, YOU GO. BOO-HOO!! I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND A PAIR OF REPLACEMENT SBSP SOCKS, SO I AM GONNA BE REALLY, REALLY SAD TO SEE YOU GO....THANK YOU FOR THE MANY YEARS OF SERVICE, DEAR FRIENDS...