More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

Leftovers I took home from a recent restaurant meal.  See how I have protected the fries from the spaghetti "juice" with a napkin barrier?

I love a side order of french fries with italian food.  I love the fries with the tomato sauce.  I especially like fries with a meatball parm sub!

I was glad to see the announcement of Amazon's new Kindle Fire (which actually looks really cool) at a price of $199.  It is ABOUT TIME these "tablety" thingys got cheaper.  I would really like an iPad but for Pete's sake, I can buy a LAPTOP COMPUTER for the price of the iPad.  Ridiculous!!

I know right now everyone is all "poo poo" on Netflix, but we just tried it for the first time and I LOVE IT!  I don't watch a lot of tv and I love the idea of actually getting to choose what I want to watch when I actually sit down to watch tv.  I know some people complain about there not being enough streaming choices, but I've watched so few newer tv shows, there's plenty for me.  Not to mention hundreds of episodes of the Dick Van Dyke show, Cheers and Monk which alone could keep me entertained for months.  And Hoarders!  :-P

Speaking of that, since we don't watch a lot of tv, we are seriously thinking of ditching our satellite tv, which is a little scary, but I think we have the cheapest Directv package (that they advertise - there are "secret"  cheaper plans you can get if you call to cancel - I HATE that) and it's pretty expensive compared to $7.99/mo for Netflix.  (This is a pretty interesting website:  Ditch Cable Today)  Here's the thing though - right now we stream it on one tv through the Wii (and can watch it on our computers of course).  But if we want to stream it on another tv, what do we choose?  A Smart/Google tv?  Blu-Ray player?  Roku box?  Head...about...to...explode!!!  (Opinions on this greatly appreciated!!)

You know, I think the only way to prepare butternut squash and have it actually taste good it to load it with butter and/or sugar and/or cheese.  Which sorta defeats the "healthful" reasons for eating it in the first place.  Just not a real tasty vegetable if you ask me. I'm giving up on that one for now.  Unless one of you can convince me otherwise.  Oh and ixnay on utternutbay quashbay oupsay.  My peeps don't like that either.

I have boycotted mowing the lawn until the humidity goes away.  I don't care how long it gets, I'll deal with it when it's cooler.  I have reached my "sweating" quota for the year.  Plus you know, we never got that reprieve in August when the lawn usually burns out for a few weeks - it rained too darn much this summer and if anything, it grew extra!!!  I'm still mad about that.

I hate water chestnuts.  It's like eating slices of styrofoam.

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Canon Powershot R.I.P.

And that my friends, is why there is no photo with this post!  :-P

And let me tell you, you'd better pray *your* point and shoot camera doesn't break any time soon because I literally spent all day looking at camera reviews, trying to find a camera that didn't have a lot of bad reviews / cons.  I like to look at the reviews on Amazon and I usually read the one and two star reviews first - I want to know what people *didn't* like about something, rather than read the "rave" reviews right off the bat.  I also like to check Consumer Reports, but they don't always review every model of every product, AND if their review is over a few months old it isn't always so helpful when you're looking at "tech" products.  So, it took me a lot of reading to feel like I was informed enough to make a good choice.

Anyway, the last two point and shoot digital cameras we had were Canon Powershots.  The first one lasted a really long time and we were really happy with it.  The second Powershot lasted 29 months, and to be honest, we expected it to last longer than that, for what we paid for it, but even so, we had been pleased with it up until the point at which it broke.  We started having problems with it freezing up, and with the lens extending and retracting.  The lens would get stuck when it was extended and it would turn off and not turn on again.  For a time, taking the battery out for a while and then putting it back in and turning it on again, would "fix" it.  But now no matter what we try, it seems to be dead.  Upon doing some research, problems with the lens mechanism / lens error seem to be disappointingly chronic across many models of Powershots.  We didn't actually get the "e18 error" on the screen as described on a website (http://www.e18error.com/) which is devoted entirely to a lens problem with Canon cameras!!!, but as our problem seemed very similar, I did try the suggested remedies for getting the lens to work again anyway, which didn't work.  How embarrassing is that, that consumers resorted to making a website devoted to trying to remedy a problem because the company itself was not addressing the problem to the satisfaction of many unhappy customers?  Between that and the complaints I saw elsewhere about the lens error and seemingly declining quality of Powershots, I decided our third digital camera was not going to be another Canon. 

That still left me to sift through reviews of seemingly endless models of Sonys, Nikons, Kodaks, Panasonics and more.  Each one seemed to have a higher than I would like ratio of poor reviews, and many had "cons" that were deal breakers for us.  We finally found a Panasonic camera that didn't seem to have any chronic problems or deal breakers that fit the bill.  I already ordered it, so do not fear - you won't have to go long without pictures of the cats, the cabin and Moo Cow, ha ha...  :-)

I should have asked this before but, what kind of point and shoot digital camera do *you* have?  Do you like it?  (In case I don't like the Panasonic and decide to return it for something else...)

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Yes I'm Still Here

 The most recent puzzle we've finished up at the cabin.

Sorry about the lapse in posting.  Nothing terribly interesting has been going on.  But, since you're probably wanting a post, I'll fill you in on the mundane details.

Went to my mother-in-law's last weekend to help close the pool for the season.  Then we went to Outback for dinner and waited about 10 years for a table for 8, LOL... (It was a Saturday night, can't really blame Outback.)

I signed up to try the Netflix free for one month trial despite the fact that Netflix has taken a beating in the news and social media right now.  I totally get that people are upset about the price change, the way it was done and the splitting of services, but people - $7.99 for unlimited streaming?  That is a freakin' BARGAIN.  I am seriously thinking of telling the husband let's ditch Directv and get a couple of Roku boxes.  We don't watch a lot of tv anyway and $7.99 sure is a lot cheaper per month than $70.00.

I was at Walmart the other day and I brought three pairs of jeans (all different brands) into the dressing room to try on.  All three pairs fit great.  I know!  Has this ever happened to any other woman in the history of the world before??  I'm usually lucky if for every 12 pairs I try on I can find one that fits.

I am enjoying the new "Lighthouse Cove" addition on Farmville.  Shut up.

See?  I told you it's been kinda uneventful around here.

I watched most of a documentary called "Food Matters" on Netflix and it kinda freaked me out.  I turned it off when they got to the before and after photos, I'll leave it at that.

Each day I can tell when the Husband gets to work because he signs into a chat client that I also use, which is nice because then I know he got safely to work.  But not surprisingly, sometimes he's late because of traffic or construction or an accident or whatever.  He is nice enough to call or send me an email from his phone if he's going to be really late, because he knows how I worry.  He knows I will start looking at the traffic reports and start freaking out when I find out there have been three 10 car pileups on the road he takes to work.  So anyway, this morning I get an email, "Late today.  Car fire on highway - not mine."  LOL and "whew"!  :-)

I'm sorry I didn't have anything more exciting to report.  I'll try harder to have a more interesting life for the next post

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Wordless Wednesday: Q-ee, Doin' it Right!

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Is *Your* Family All Rainbows and Peace and Harmony All The Time??

Gratuitous picture of "our lake".  It has nothing to do with this post.

This past weekend we had our annual block party, which was very nice.  Went to bed waaaaaaaaaaaaay too late.  Then Sunday we had a bunch of plans, including apple picking and dinner with friends at a place we like that is near where we go apple picking. However, I woke up as Mrs. Crankypants and let's just say after a few exchanges of a few choice words, we decided to scrap our plans.  Luckily we were able to use the crap-o weather as an excuse rather than, "We're all mad at each other and are in no mood to spend a wonderful, happy family time together, so, sorry, we're not going to join you this year." I stomped off to the front porch to fume/talk angrily to myself about the other people in my household/get away from the other people in my household, the daughter stomped off to watch tv (which she had been not been able to do for the previous week after getting grounded so she wasn't actually that unhappy), and the Husband took off and went geocaching/got away from us/me... LOL...  Just dandy!

Anyway, my mother-in-law sort of helped to salvage the evening by calling and asking if we could come down to help out with something.  Despite the fact that the last thing we wanted to do was go act like a happy family, we realize that she isn't getting any younger and we try to spend time with her when she invites us over and of course help her when she needs it, so this sort of obligated us to break the bad mood. Helping matters was while we were visiting, my mother-in-law told us the story of how a few days before she had laid some "glue" mouse traps on her basement steps because she had gotten water in her basement and wanted to leave the door open to air it out and was afraid the mice from the basement would run upstairs.  Can you guess what happened?  Yes, she accidentally stepped on one with her bare foot, and I almost peed in my pants laughing over her story of how she tried to get it off.  Nothing like a really good belly laugh to blow away a black mood!  Sorry that it came at the expense of my mother-in-law though!  :-P

Tell me I'm not the only one whose family doesn't live in peace and harmony and rainbows 100% of the time??  :-P

The end.

P.S.  Also, sorry to my sister-in-law who had also earlier in the week invited us over for that same evening, which I had turned down as we had our original apple picking & dinner etc. plans.  When that all blew up I didn't exactly want to call you at the last minute and say, "Hey, our other plans got scrapped 'cause we're all fighting - can we come to your place for dinner instead now?  We can sit in stony silence as we look at your pictures from your cross country vacation!" SORRY!  :-(  :-(  :-(

More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

Moocow came on the boat on one of our cruises when we were up in the Adirondacks over Labor Day weekend.  She loved it.

Are you planning on watching any of the 9/11 tributes, as the 10th anniversary comes up this Sunday?   I don't know if I will.  In a kind of unfortunate coincidence, this Sunday is also Grandparent's Day.  Do many people celebrate this holiday?  We really haven't.  I looked it up out of curiosity and it's been around since 1978.  There's even an official song (A Song for Grandma and Grandpa by Johnny Prill), and an official flower (forget-me-not).  As a kid I can remember questioning my parents as to why there was a Mother's Day, a Father's Day and a Grandparent's Day but NO CHILDREN'S DAY!  What's up with that??  They always said, "Every day is Children's Day."  What a crock. 

We had a potluck and meeting here last night.  There's nothing like company coming to get your house clean, eh?  :-D

Speaking of cleaning, I used to love the show "Horaders", but it went on hiatus months ago and I don't even know if it's back on or what.  I could Google it and find out, but we're so uncommitted to watching tv, if I haven't bumped into it, it probably isn't on when I tend to watch tv anyway.  The one show a week we sort of like to try to watch is "American Pickers".  I actually know that's on Monday nights.  The Husband and I both really like that show.  My new guilty pleasure tv show is "Dance Moms".  Anybody else like that show?  That one the Husband has no interest in watching, so I watch it online when I can.  :-P

I actually got back to posting on my other blog today (www.sensiblehomemaker.com).  I decided to return from my hiatus with a scintillating post about how we "jazz up" hotdogs by making them as "coins" and how our daughter prefers her portion to be "butt free".

And speaking of hotdogs, a bloggy friend of mine has started a new blog called "Fun Lunches".  It was kinda funny because at first when I saw the picture of what she sent for lunch for her kids' first day of school, it was small on my screen and I thought she sent her kids with chocolate chunk muffins as their lunch!  I was like, what??  But then I looked closer and the "chocolate chunks" were actually hotdog "coins", and what she actually made were corndog muffins!  My daughter is really picky and thinking of things to pack for lunch is a real challenge, so I am looking forward to ideas and inspiration!

Our garden has not liked this very rainy summer.  The tomato plants have all but died, and some of our other plants seem to be suffering from being waterlogged.  Did you garden do okay this summer?  One of the plants still doing well are the carrots.  The thing is, we planted those in the spring, and we've been told to leave them and pick them at the end of the season.  So, like, they took up space in the garden all summer long, and we're going to (if we're lucky) get like, 10 carrots.  That's stupid.

The Daughter and I decorated our house for fall two days ago.  I was like, "Good riddance summer!  Don't let the door hit ya where God split ya!"!!!

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We're Scared of Propane

At our Adirondack place, we have propane for our fuel for our furnace, water heater and this stove.  At our main home, our furnace uses fuel oil.  So, we don't have any experience with propane or propane appliances.  It's scary.  We're always thinking we're going to blow up.  You should have seen us gathering our courage to push the button to light the  fake wood stove AFTER we already spent like an hour figuring out how to get the pilot light lit, LOL.  (Not really our fault, the instruction manual leaves is pretty vague.)

Another thing I don't know anything about is horseback riding, yet, there seem to be a number of places up north that offer horseback riding.  I wouldn't know a western saddle from english horse tack.  The thing I think about when I hear "horseback riding" is how the guy who played Superman got thrown from a horse, became paralyzed and died.  So I've never been in any big hurry to go riding.  Yet, I'm pretty sure millions of people ride horses every day and do not become paralyzed and die.  Just like millions of people use propane in their homes and don't blow up.

Funny how unlikely scenarios can cause irrational fears about things.

Are you afraid of something irrational?  Or are you afraid of propane too?  LOL...

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Eating BBQ'd Pizza While Watching National Grid Restore Our Power

Actually, I don't think these gentlemen were actually from National Grid - their truck was from Iowa!

First of all, I want to thank all of you that thought of me after hurricane Irene and were asking how our cabin fared.  Believe me, I was SO RELIEVED when we went up for Labor Day weekend and our cabin was sitting there, just as we left it!  Well...almost just as we left it...  We got there Wednesday evening, and we had no power, and thusly no water.  Which was a bit of a surprise, as I had looked at National Grid's outage map, and according to that, I was led to believe we'd have power.

I am usually pretty good in a "crisis" and generally have the "well, we'll make the best of it attitude" BUT, I wasn't feeling well in-a-monthly-sort-of-way-if-you-know-what-I-mean and I was quite upset actually, at the thought of no power or water.

Thursday morning, before I had even gotten out of bed, the Husband drove to Stewart's and brought back coffee and breakfast.  After having some coffee and a danish, I was able to summon a better outlook.  I told the Husband that if he could rig some sort of enclosure outside that I could use to bathe with a bucket of lake water, I could survive until the power was back on.  (I am just one of those people that HATES TO GO WITHOUT A SHOWER.  That was always my one requirement when we went camping - I don't care if I have to sleep on the ground without a tent and go to the bathroom in the forest, but by golly, there has to be SHOWERS available at the campground!!!)  We still had a huge piece of cardboard in the basement from our patio set I suggested he could cut into panels with box cutters, or perhaps some rope and tarps might work, or heck, weave something out of pine needles, just pretend you're MacGyver and make me some kind of shower!  Please??

 Nice, eh?  I made him put the blanket with the bears in the "front" to make it look nice. :-P  We didn't have an actual "bucket" to get lake water, but we had a (clean) kitty litter plastic bucket.  Hey, you make do with what you have!

Of course as luck would have it, the Husband was no sooner done rigging my "outdoor shower" using the rope from our boat anchor and some blankets, I saw a power truck go down our street!  Our street is a dead end, so I went to the street and stood there and waited for them to come back, determined to get some information about when the power might be back on.  When they came back, to my great happiness they assured me the power would be back on that day.  HOORAY!

So I took my icy cold "shower" with lake water and then we sat up on our deck while the Husband reheated the previous night's pizza on the BBQ, and watched the gentlemen from National Grid or whomever, work on the power lines.  By that evening we had power and water back again!  Woo hoo!

Compared to other people who experienced terrible devastation from hurricane Irene, I of course realize having the power out for a day was nothing.  I am extremely thankful that neither our main house, nor our cabin had any damage or water whatsoever from the storm.  How did hurricane Irene treat *you*?

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This is What I Have to Live With Every Day

The ridiculous cuteness of Angel Kitty!  She kills me!  Look at those paw paws!

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