Is There A Support Group Called "Radios Anonymous"??

Had a busy weekend.  My best friend M's parents were in town for the Mt. Beacon Ameateur Radio Club "Hamfest" (flea market for Ham Radio stuff) and they stayed with us for the weekend.  They are the kind of guests that are fun and easy to have - I love having them come stay with us.  M's father is a ham radio expert and was chastizing us for hardly using our radio privledges after getting our licenses last year (on my birthday no less - I wrote about that here).  In fact on Saturday we stopped in to visit him at the canoe race he was helping to provide ham radio communications for.

 

He had this really tall antenna pole set up so they could communicate with all the checkpoints of the canoe race.

      

The water was reeeeally cold, but it didn't stop DD from dipping her feet in.

   

    
We sat by the creek for awhile, it was so pretty.  This was right by the finish line for the canoe race so we also got to see people come down this last stretch paddling for all they were worth.  I'm not big on canoes.  My main experience in a canoe was on the ocean.  Yes, the ocean.  Not a good place to go as a beginner canoe-er.  I was with my brother.  We were young and stupid, but we lived.

 

M's father succeeded in getting me to talk on my radio.  

(I have a Yaesu FT 60 and it's a really nice radio for a beginner, I think.)

   

The next day we all went to the "Hamfest".  Obviously they have all sorts of amateur radio / ham radio equipment and such for sale, but lots of people have lots of other miscellaneous electronics to sell as well (everything from old telephones to cb radios and parts galore).  DH got us some cartop antennas for our ham radios, which we needed.  Here's what I bought...

  

Zenith G730 radio with tubes, likely from the 50s.

You see, I have this little problem. I love radios.  All kinds of radios.  I really try to use a lot of self control, but I do admit that I personally own quite a few more radios than the average person.  This is my first "antique" radio.  I saw it and I just instantly fell in love with it.  It was marked $20 but I got it for $15.  It's not in pristine condition or anything, but I love it.  DH dug up some antenna wire for me to improve the reception and that worked great.  Didn't your grandparents have a radio like this too?

Anyway, though my DH totally humors my "radio addiction", I wouldn't be surprised if this morning he started searching out a "Radios Anonymous" support group for me! :-P
 
The end.
   

Pottpourri of Pictures and Weigh In

I was looking through my photos from this month and there were some fun ones I thought I'd share...

 

  Here's a picture of our garden that we've started indoors.  Thing is, we don't know what we're growing.  DD planted some plants when we were up visiting my homeschooling friend, and we don't know what they are.  That's the fun of it though, right?  (Anyone recognize any of these?)

  

 

Speaking of our trip to my friend's, DD brought her camera and she snapped this lovely pic of me driving there, sneaking a few Spongebob Cheez-its.

  

 

Here is our latest freecycle score. It's filled with bar glasses. We're not really sure all what's in there though - we haven't had the time or the inclination to unpack the whole thing (because then we'll have to wash them all, then repack it much better) but at first glance there seem to be some really cool glasses in there. I will take a pic of all the glasses when we get around to checking them out.

  

Here's a geocache we found last weekend. We were hiking in a preserve by the Hudson River and found this rather nicely stocked geocache.

Here is our kitty Basil on what we call the "Cat Post".  One of my BILs built it for us years ago (thanks "K", and look - we're still using it!).  That's a leg of a pair of jeans covering the post - good for cats to scratch on.  We just recently resurrected it from the basement.  Both cats like it.  As you can imagine it also provides a great "look out" to our yard.

 

And lastly, here's another pic taken by DD.  Have you ever had these?  They are sort of like french fries, but they're a little more potato-y on the inside. I believe they are called "Smiles". We all like them.

  

So now for the weigh-in.  I was worried because I actually hadn't gotten on the scale for two weeks - between the spring break trip to my friend's house, and then Easter, and then me being so sick, the "weight watching" wasn't at the top of my list.  However, I have still been basically following it, albeit somewhat loosely.  I was so extremely happy to get on the scale and see that I have lost 2 lbs since last weigh in, so I think I am up to 21 lbs lost now!!  (Guess I won't be needing any liporexall after all!) I think the best part is that I was sort of "living my normal life" the last couple of weeks, and yet I was still able to incorporate the principals of Weight Watchers, and I still LOST weight!  I think I would consider this my most "successful moment of weight loss" EVAH!  Woo hoo!!

  

The end.

 

Penny Raine's Birthday Bash

(This is not a paid post.)
Hey bloggy friends!  I don't usually promote giveaways/contests/carnivals/ promotions/whatnot BUT over at Penny's Bookstore Penny has a really great sale going on right now.  She had actually planned on ending it on the 12th, but so many people keep discovering it, she's decided to extend it for a SECOND time, and I wanted to let you guys know in case you're interested too.  She is offering 46 ebooks PLUS some free downloads too - I purchased the collection myself, and I thought it was WELL WORTH the $15.95 - here's what you get:
 

All 8 of her Creatively Simple "How to" Books

Creatively Simple - How to Create an Apron

Creatively Simple - How to Make Homemade Bread

Creatively Simple - How to Make Chocolate Cobbler

Creatively Simple - How to Make the Best Cowboy Cookies in the West

Creatively Simple - How to Grow Sprouts in a Jar

Creatively Simple - How to Make Butter in the Blender

Creatively Simple - How to Make Homemade Donuts

Creatively Simpler - How to Make a Diaper Cake

Making the Holidays Family Friendly

First Things First - a family devotional How to Book

Big 37 Cookbook Special that she normally only offers at Christmas

plus some free downloads

for $15.95

  
The Creatively Simple books have lots of pictures and I think they would be great activities to do together with DD and they look like a lot of fun!  The "How to Make Homemade Bread" is one I'll have to try for sure.  Trust me, you don't want my homemade bread, ha ha.  The 37 cookbooks are an enormous collection of really interesting and diverse cookbooks - all types of cookbooks like Amish, Crockpot, Chocolate, Diet, Cheesecake and Wings - to name just a few!  (Yes, you're reading that right - an ENTIRE cheesecake cookbook and an ENTIRE Wings cookbook - they are each over 90 pages!!)  It's going to take me a while just to browse through them all.
 
Penny has already extended this offer twice, she's only holding it open for a couple of more days, so jump on it if it interests you -->  Penny's Birthday Bash Celebration
 

  
And if you don't already visit her blog, check that out too - she's a Christian Mom of 8 on a farm in Tennessee.  She's always sharing uplifting and encouraging stuff that blesses me, I really enjoy it.  Here's her blog:  Penny Raine
 
Just wanted to share something good I found with you guys.
  
The end.
 

"Man Signs of Spring"

My last posts were about what *I* viewed as "signs of spring" - you know, flowers and stuff... but DH showed me his "Man Signs of Spring"....
 

   
The end.
 

Signs of Spring

Took Mr. Texdog out for a walk and lo and behold, I noticed there are real signs of spring around here.  (I was actually taking some "video" of our silly dog running around - we got a new micro sd card and now we have plenty of room to take pics AND short "video".) 
 
Here are my flowers, getting ready to bloom.  They were dug up from DH's grandfather's house originally after he died, and they've thrived.

  
Here's a shot that shows how they are planted all around the rocks in our side yard.  Hopefully I'll think to take a pic when they are in bloom - they are like my mini field of flowers.

We even grilled hamburgers for dinner tonight.  It was still way too chilly to eat outside, but it was nice to enjoy the beginning of the change of seasons.

Look! Little tiny purple flowers, what a happy sight!

Is it spring yet where you are?

The end.
   

Here's My Birthday Stash

 

  

Figured I'd share a photo that kinda summed up my birthday - the good with the bad (the bad being my medication and the Lysol).  For as crummy as I felt yesterday DH did indeed come through with some great presents that really cheered me up (nope, no bad presents - he never gives me stuff like a vacuum cleaner), as did DD.  From DH I got a pair of really cool camo capris and a shirt to match, as well as American Girl Samantha (I had actually purchased Samantha back when she was first announced to be "archived" and put her aside for DH to give me later - couldn't miss out on never having Samantha!!!).  It was SO nice to finally be able to take Samantha out of her box and hold her, and change her clothes.  And I tried on my new outfit this morning - fit perfect, and it was nice to look cute for the first time in days, as long as you didn't look at my face with my two pink-eye eyes.  

  

From DD I got the cardinal Webkinz, which besides being a great gift, it is my first "flying" Webkinz and therefore I was able to purchase a "treetop room" for the first time, which was so cool!

  

Well, by now I am feeling a bit better, although I am almost out of Lysol  Which is actually good because it's "garden scent" or something like that and it's awful.  A friend mentioned that rather than wash my hands until they're raw trying not to contaminate anything, use hand sanitizer.  I thought that was a great idea, I even have some "fancy" Bath & Bodyworks stuff someone gave me.  Until I used it on my dry, scaly, cracked hands - the stuff BURNED!  Ayyyyyiii!  Pretty sure it killed everything tho.  And on the bright side, my hands smell really nice.

  

I am hoping I will feel better enough tomorrow to tackle some housework - at least the kitchen and vacuuming.  I'll just try do what I can.  DH has been very patient with all my being-at-death's-door-ness, he's not putting any pressure on me to get anything done, it's more the pressure I put on myself.  I like to keep things tidy.  I just do.  Oh well, can't sweat the small stuff, right?

   

Thanks again everyone for your birthday and well wishes, they are so very appreciated!  I love you guys!!

  

The end.

 

Thank You, Thank You...

...to eveyone who left me birthday wishes AND well wishes!

I am still feeling like death warmed over but since I went to the doctor and am taking medicine I mentally believe I MUST be getting better.

You guys made my birthday much brighter - thank you to:

  

Small Pines from Small Pines (via Twitter!)

Karen from Karen and Gerard Zemek

Katherine from The Queen Speaks

Aldon from Orient Lodge

Jen from Redhead Ranting

Ivanhoe from From Ohio with Love

Rebecca from Freaky Frugalite

Cedar from Adirondack View

Kevin

Mary Ann (via Twitter!)

Michele from Rocky Mountain Retreat Photography

The Hawg! From Natural State Hawg

Alaska Mom from At Home in Alaska

Wanda from 1 Blog and 2 Sides

KAT from Candles, Crafts and Whatnot

Bonnie K from Mama K

The Empty Envelope from The Empty Envelope
Goin Live In Five (via Twitter)

   

I just looked over this list and wow people, these are some great blogs!  If you're looking for some new blogs to check out, these are truly some of my most favorite blogs - try them - I promise you won't be disappointed.
 
Gonna go give those eye drops another try.  It's just so hard not to blink when you can see something coming at your eye.  I mean, how do I overcome a reflex??

The end.

Update: And the Diagnosis Is....

....upper respiratory infection and conjunctivitis (pink eye)!

Ok, that is so NOT what I asked for for my birthday.  >:-(

I am now the proud owner of an azithromycin 5 day "Z Pack" and a bottle of Neomycin eye drops.
    
I am notoriously bad at putting in eye drops, so I predict only half the bottle will end up in my eyes, the other half will be on my face, shirt, and sink.

Well on the bright side I do have some presents here on the table waiting to be opened later when DH gets home, and we were supposed to go out for dinner, but I look a fright (besides one of my eyes being pink and swollen half shut, I didn't bother with any eye makeup which I normally wear 24/7 because it would all smear off from the tearing of my eye AND now all my eye makeup has to go in the garbage anyway since it's now "contaminated"), so maybe we'll just do takeout.  I have a craving for spaghetti bolognese.  And pie.
 
I already informed DH that there is to be absolutely NO mention of weight watcher "points" tonight! :-D

The end.

Today is Mah Birthday - Guess Where I'm Going?

Ha.  Bet you don't guess it....

The doctor's!

I have been sick for days and I am finally breaking down and going to the doctor.  I'm not going to go into the gross details, but after waking up this morning and my sore throat still wasn't that much better, and one of my eyes was half swollen shut (I think I have pink eye, on top of everything!!), I decided it's probably time for some real medication.  When I called the doctor's office and the receptionist asked for my birthdate and she realized my birthday is today she was like, "Oh no!  Poor you!".

Well, luckily I didn't ask to go anywhere special for my birthday this year.  The past couple of years we've been going to NYC - you can read about last year's trip here - we went to "Top of the Rock", amongst other places.
    
Also, I realized I passed my one year "blogiversary" back in March.  Whoops.

Anyway, I have an appointment at 1:15 today.  Luckily my doctor's office is REALLY good about getting you in same day when you are sick (it's easy, unlike trying to find the cheapest car insurance).

I'll update later with the "verdict".

The end.
 

Happy Easter to You!

I wish to everyone who is celebrating Easter a joyful and blessed holiday, and the chance to appreciate all that we have and all that we can have, because of what Jesus did for us.  Love, Me
 
The End.

 




 

I Am Blogging to You from a Christian Homeschooler's Home in Jamesville, NY

Although a less popular spring break destination than Florida, DD and I decided to spend it in snowy (yes, you read that right) Jamesville, which is right outside Syracuse, NY.  I had the pleasure of taking Route 20 a good chunk of the way across NY to get here (as opposed to the boring Thruway).  (Rebecca, I waved to you as I passed near your area of NY! :-) While the number of dilapidated homes and farms was a discouraging sight, there was much natural beauty to be enjoyed, as well as some other interesting sights like a huge Walmart distribution center, lots of blue NYS historical signs, some picturesque towns, and I even passed two rv parks!  Apparently there were also two large fields of enormous windmills that no one can believe I didn't see.  Oh well, maybe on the way back.

So, the reason we are here is my best friend that I have known since 2nd grade was kind enough to welcome us up here for a few days.  We see each other a few times a year at least, but usually it's just for the day - so it has been so nice to have more time to spend together.

DH did not come along - he stayed behind to you know, go to work and stuff. :-D  However, I'm sure he's enjoying a little "cave time" (that's what we jokingly refer to as "man alone in the house" time). 
  
My best friend "M" and her husband are a Christian couple with four children that they homeschool.  DD and I have been their adopted family for the past couple of days and we've gotten a taste of their homeschool life which has been a lot of fun.  I've even learned quite a bit myself - I've learned that tigers like the water and can swim up to 15 miles at a stretch, about the shroud of Turin and the Edessa Cloth (thanks to a "Drive Thru History" DVD), that Onondaga Lake is considered by some the most polluted lake in the United States, and that Hobby Lobby is 10 times better than AC Moore or Michaels.  Also, they still give cookies in the McDonalds Happy Meals here!!!  They have not put the little cookies in the Happy Meals by me in like forever!
 
DD has been participating in the homeschooling and it's kinda funny to think that on her spring break she's been doing school!  Heh.  She's worked on spelling, botany, art and the branches of government so far with M's daughter who is close in age (and they are good friends as well), and the places they have done schoolwork have been at a table in their livingroom, in their minivan, at the salon while they were getting haircuts and in the kitchen.  So far.

I am very, very blessed to have M, and her whole family as our friends - I am so appreciative they are so happy to have us come spend time with them and be a part of their lives for a few days, it's been so fun!

All too soon our trip will come to an end.  Then home again with preparations for Easter to do.  Still have to color our eggs, and I have deviled eggs & the pecan candy thingys to make, and baking to do for church and our family's Easter get together.  Hopefully we will have an uneventful and safe trip home.

(I am going to try really hard to notice the windmills on the way back or I may never live it down...)

The end.

I Cooked Something I Saw on Another Blog!

Although I visit quite a few "Cooking Blogs" that I really, truly enjoy, I'll admit - I've never made anything I've seen on them.  I guess it's for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I don't like to cook!  Although I do cook nearly every night.  Secondly, DD and DH can be picky eaters and often times the recipes I see I just don't think they would like.  Thirdly, a lot of blogs feature desserts, which while they look absolutely scrumptious, well, that's the problem!  DH and DD are not big dessert eaters.  So that leaves me.  To eat all the dessert.  Bad!  :-(  As if I don't already need more reasons to look for weight loss products.  (Although I suppose I DO have enough get-togethers here or stuff going on at church I could make desserts for...Hmmm....)  Anyway, normally I just live vicariously through these other wonderful cooks.

However, the other day I saw something on my bloggy friend Rebecca's new blog "Wow Chow Cooking" called "Hybrid Lasagna".  I just happened to be having a meeting here last week with a pot luck dinner preceding it, and I thought that "Hybrid Lasagna" might be just the thing to make.  Looked easy, looked like something most people would enjoy, and she had step-by-step directions with photos - why not?  So I tried it.

And it was a huge success!!!  Just look at it!!!

Here it is still baking.  As everyone was arriving I kept hearing, "Whatever is cooking smells reeeeally good!"

  

Here is is, just out of the oven.  

And here it is, in all it's cheesy, saucy wonder.  YES!  It WAS as good as it looks!!!

  

Not only did I get a ton of compliments on my new dish, but two people asked for the recipe!  For dessert I made my Pecan Caramel Pretzel Thingys (recipe in link in right sidebar under "Some of my Better Posts" - Moo Cow shows you how to make them - it's the only recipe I've ever posted).  They are one of my "old standbys".

 

  
If you would like the recipe for "Hybrid Lasagna" and want to check out the other recipes Rebecca has posted, then get thee to Wow Chow Cooking and hey - let me know if you make any of her other recipes that you think I should try!  I probably will end up trying more of them anyway - they are right up my alley - economical, tasty, good leftovers and EASY.  The Easy Bake BBQ Pork caught my eye too...

Looks good, huh??  Plus I think we have the same salt and pepper shakers! :-P

The end.

Geocaching in Whitlock Preserve and, Wanna See A Deer Tick? Part 2

(Part one is here, in case you missed it.) (And thanks to those who identified the "mystery plant"!)

So, I happened to leave off just before we found the geocache, which is what led us to this lovely little place (Whitlock Preserve in Stanford, NY) in the first place.

 

This is a large size "ammo can" btw.  The ones we find around here are usually one size down from this one, so this was a bit of a treat to find such a large geocache, and it had a lot of great "swag" in it too!

    

So after signing the log and making our trades we proceeded on.  We left the forest and entered an area of old pasture that was going back to forest.

  

 

   

Although we were not close to the pond and swampy area anymore, there were still wet areas and yet another little bridge.

  

 

  

Not much further on we came to this.  Why no little bridge here??

  

 

  

As you can see the trail was surrounded by thick brush (which happened to be what we call "pricker bushes" around here), so there was no easy way around this giant puddle in the middle of the trail.  We ended up scrounging around and DH found a few decent size branches to throw across and we ended up balance-beaming our way across.  I'm happy to report we all still had dry feet and shoes on the other side! :-)

   

You can see we were headed back into the forest again once we were over the big puddle.

  

 

Another nice burrow for some lucky creature

   

Soon enough we were back at the parking lot and our car.  We made sure not to leave any "debris", ha ha!

  

Not long after we drove off DD yelled from the back, "a tick! a tick!".  This is a very common occurrence after a hike.  Normal protocal is DH uses his "speed parking" talent and quickly finds a spot to pull over, and it's usually DH who will take the tick, crush it between his fingernails and evict it's dead carcass out the window.  We live in an area that is just overrun with deer ticks, which are a carrier for Lyme Disease.  DH has had Lyme Disease three times now, yet somehow DD and I have never had it.  They are especially bad in areas of dry leaves and long grass, but you can pick them up anywhere.  A neighbor of ours who never ventured past her own mowed lawn picked one up unbeknownst to her and got Lyme.  I could go on, but it could turn into a whole 'nother post.  Anyway, after we got back on the road a minute or two later I felt something tickling my arm, I look down and, "a tick! a tick!".  So again, DH manages to go from 55mph to park in a matter of seconds, but you know, I'm always thinking of my bloggy friends.  So I said, "let me take a picture before you crush him to bits"....

    

 
So while my DH is heroically saving the world from another tick, I happen to look out my window to see where we've pulled off and it's quite picturesque.  So since I still had the camera in my hand, I decided to take a shot.  But then I realized the scene was not as picturesque as I thought.

WARNING:  IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE A PICTURE OF A COW PEEING, THEN LEAVE NOW.   YOU ARE WARNED.

 

     

 
Yes people, you may not see skyscrapers, tons of BMWs or fancy Audemars Piguet watches reflecting off the streetlights at 3am, but in the country you get to see nature at its finest.  Well, perhaps this is not one of nature's finest moments, but hey, all you city folk who never saw a cow peeing saw something new today! :-D
 
And with that, my friends, I will say, The End. :-)
 

Thursday Weigh-In A Day Late

I don't know what's up with our scale - maybe all this weighing myself is stretching out the springs or something - but I got on and off at least 10 times.  Sometimes it said I lost 2 lbs, then it would say I didn't lose anything, then it'd say I lost a pound.  Over and over.  So I'm going to average it out and claim the pound.

While Weight Watchers is a wonderful program, I wish they would develop a special "end game" for when you get down to 20 points.  It is really difficult and discouraging to only have 20 points a day to eat.  For me it's near impossible.  That's 1,000 calories, people.  Oh, but "whoa whoa whoa" - doctors will say you're not ever supposed to eat less than 1,200 calores a day - oh and "whoa whoa whoa" Weight Watchers will say that on their diet you DO get more than 20 points a day - you use some of your weekly "stash" to supplement that 20 points, so you really do get to eat more than 1,000 calories a day.  Well THAT is a !#@%! fairytale.  Unless you have no life and never celebrate any holidays or birthdays and NEVER go out to eat and NEVER want to splurge this is really very unrealistic.  Because you see, if you use points from your "stash" to supplement your daily total then you are unable to save them up for a splurge!  It is totally unrealistic for me to think that I can do this without splurges on special occasions.  It is also totally unrealistic to eat 1,000 calories a day.  It's a bad end game on Weight Watchers.

What's going to happen is that I will still lose weight, it will just be slower because I can't really manage to reduce my caloric intake quite as much as "they" want me to.  (Think for a minute how little food 1,000 calories is!  I am starving almost all day!)  I just have to try my best and be patient.  Which is fine really.  But I wish Weight Watchers would maybe develop a strategy at the end and let you eat  a little more but tell you it's going to go slow.  Or discover that bee pollen or horse supplements or the Sham WOW! instantly takes off the last 10 pounds, you know, whatever.  Something!
 
Weight Watchers is a great program, but I really think they need to work on this part of the program.
 
I'll try to get to "part two" of the previous post soon! :-D
 
The end.