Why Did I Wait 20 Years to Buy One of These????

Any one that knows me knows I HATE being in the hot sun.  HATE HATE HATE it.  Well a few weeks ago, I saw one of my neighbors at our beach by our cabin, had put up a colorful beach umbrella.  Boy did that seem inviting, rather than trying to chase the shade up the hill and into the trees as the day wore on...  So, since then, I've been watching for a beach umbrella to go on summer clearance and I snagged one a couple of weeks ago.

WHY OH WHY DID I WAIT 20 YEARS TO BUY A BEACH UMBRELLA????????????  On clearance it was $18.  I think I got my $18 worth the very first day I used it!  It is a GODSEND!!!!!!!!!  I can sit right out on a hot sunny beach and...SURVIVE!!!!!!!

It's not like beach umbrellas are some new invention or anything...I guess in the past I just practiced avoidance.

Isn't it funny sometimes how there's a simple solution to a problem, yet we avoid it for some stupid reason?  I remember for years there was a knob that would pull off a drawer in our dresser.  One day the Husband took some wood glue and fixed it.  Took like, 10 minutes.  Now instead of having to use a special technique to get the drawer open without pulling off the knob, or failing and pulling it off and having to push it back on, WOW - now we have a drawer that works without having to use "special techniques".  Why do we let silly things like that go?

Even easy things like coloring in a scratch on furniture with a brown marker, or fixing a couch with leather furniture dye, or taking the time to get that stain out of the carpet - why do we put off these simple soultions?

Anyway, if you don't like sitting in the hot sun, take it from me - don't suffer or sit in the woods for TWENTY YEARS - get a beach umbrella!!!!!!!!!!!!  lol....

The end.

Horrifying Food

Vintage ad courtesy of Foodiggity.

I have never actually had Spam - what does it taste like?

The two grossest things I ever felt obligated to eat were a tuna fish sandwich made with Miracle Whip, and a grilled cheese sandwich made with WAY WAY too much Velveeta (think "globs").  Both of these unfortunate items were served to me when I was a guest.  Usually I'll try to choke down anything I'm served out of politeness, you know?  Those are the only two things I can ever remember just not being able to eat, even to be polite.

What was the worst thing you ever felt obligated to eat?

The end.

Discovery's Gold Rush....Guyana????

I am a huge fan of Discovery's Gold Rush.  I love the Hoffman Crew (not so interested in the Dakota Boys or Parker, but they're ok), I love all the machines (the excavators, the D9 Dozer, the pumps, the hydrolics, the gears, stuff like a 3 phase industrial motor, the tools, it's all awesome!) and I love the drama - I just love this show.

But I am not down with this Gold Rush: The Jungle.  It was bad enough when they took their "American Dream" that they go on and on about, to the Yukon....in CANADA.  Did you realize that Quartz Creek is in CANADA?  They keep that on the down low.  But I could go along with that I guess.  At least Canada is our next door neighbor...but now they're going to the jungle in Guyana??  The words "jump the shark" come to mind.  Maybe Cody and Dave from Dual Survival can join their team...

I realize the idea is that they want to be able to mine year round, but is there really nowhere in the US they could pursue their "American Dream"???  Ugh.

Oh, I'll watch it, but either way I think it will be stupid.  If at the end of the special they decide they're NOT going to mine in the jungle, well, that was a stupid idea!  And if at the end of the special they decide they ARE going to mine in the jungle half a world away after all their talk of the "American Dream" still being alive, well, that's a stupid idea too!  Blah.  >:-(

The end.

R.I.P. Mr. Texdog

I am so sad to tell you that our good buddy Mr. Texdog, who has appeared on my blog many, many times, went over the rainbow bridge yesterday morning after a brief and sudden illness.

We are very sad, and still in shock...he was a part of our family for 11 1/2 years...it is very weird not to hear the jingle of his collar, or see him laying in his favorite spots...I felt especially bad for the Husband, knowing there would be no furry friend greeting him at the door when he got home from work today.

Tex was a good hearted and faithful friend.  Rest in peace, buddy.

The end.

More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

Check out this crazy mailbox holder we saw on a geocaching run in the Adirondacks

We need a new mattress and so I've been kind of keeping an ear out on what's good.  I'm intrigued by the Sleep Number bed, but it seems people either love it or hate it.  A traditional mattress is always probably a safe bet.  Memory foam mattresses seem popular - and there's the side benefit of being able to put your wine glass down on it and dance around without it spilling, lol.  I did read a funny tidbit about memory foam mattresses - apparently they're not the best for, ahem, "recreational activities" due to, ahem, "traction issues".  Maybe just stick with a memory foam topper instead - comfort AND traction, lol!

I'm lovin the new Dallas show!  I can't believe it, but it's just like the old Dallas - just as exciting, just as surprising, and it keeps you guessing.  I was thrilled to see TNT ordered a second season.

My allergies have been so bad this spring & summer - in fact, I can't ever remember my allergies being this bad in my life!  Something about this weather pattern must have caused something to proliferate that I am highly allergic to.  Anybody else suffering worse than normal?  I'm making the people at Benadryl very wealthy, lol....

Our go-to snack lately is microwave nachos.  All you do it spread some tortilla chips on a microwavable plate, sprinkle shredded cheese on it and microwave for about 40 seconds.  Voila!

Although I have been a Today Show watcher since I was a kid, I am so mad at NBC for how crappy they treated Ann Curry that I'm never watching the Today Show ever again!  Plus I actually *liked* her as an anchor - it's Matt Lauer I can't stand!! I have no interest in the Matt Lauer/Savannah Guthrie mutual appreciation show.  I now watch Good Morning America, which is really pretty good!  No wonder they are nipping at the Today Show's heels.

A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of the barely-detectable-with-the-human-eye pepperoncini that Panera Bread put on the Husband's sandwich.  I sent that picture to Panera, and they apologized and sent me a gift card.  I am in no way trying to get another gift card, but I had to tell them what happened on our next visit to that same Panera - the Husband ordered another Italian Combo and we decided to check it before we left, to see if they put normal size pepperoncini on it, and would you believe they left off the pepperoncini altogether??  AND they forgot to give him a pickle too!  Someone is alseep at the wheel at that Panera.

We've got powdery mildew in our garden AGAIN.  We've tried to keep our garden chemical free but this year we are resorting to whatever toxic spray I can find to get rid of that menace.  We tried homemade "recipes" in the past for powdery mildew and none were very effective and we lost many plants.  But not this year.  Oh no, I don't care if I grow an extra toe, I'm hitting that powdery mildew with nuclear waste if that's what it takes to eradicate it!!!!!!!!!!

Bananagrams is one of my favorite games!  Kind of like Scrabble, but no waiting for the other person to take their turn!  Have you ever played it?  What's your favorite game?

The end.

The Husband Doesn't Really Like Catching This Kind of Fish...

A pickerel on the Husband's line, jumpin' around on the bottom of our boat.

...cause they have teeth!!

The one thing I don't like catching is eels - YICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember one time a long time ago I was fishing with the Husband and he hooked, of all things, a gumball machine that apparently was under the water at that lake.  Our daughter caught a big frog once...that was kind of surprising and disturbing.

What's the weirdest thing you, or someone you know ever caught fishing?

The end.

Finding a Modest Dress for Young Teen = Near Impossible

Our daughter is in my father's upcoming wedding, and trying to find a nice dress that wasn't too short, skimpy or low cut was nearly impossible.  The picture above is what we ended up getting.  What worked in my favor is that our daughter is very petite, so the "short" dresses weren't always too short on her.  At least thank goodness the jewelry was easy to choose in comparison (I love to look at jewelry, I could browse jewelry flyers or check out the jewelry deal of the day every day, lol!).  Although in the one store they had rhinestone covered flasks.  For real!

I can't possibly be the only one that would like to find fashionable clothes for my teen that are on the modest side????  At least when she was still in girls/tween clothing, it wasn't as hard to find styles that weren't too sexy, but GOOD GOLLY, now that's she's getting into junior sizing, much of the clothing is so TRAMPY.  I'm sorry, YES, trampy!  Low cut everything seems to be the current style.  Doesn't anyone make modest trendy clothes for juniors?  I mean, I'm not talking turtlenecks and ankle length skirts, but shorts that aren't too short and tops that aren't too skimpy and cut low - how about that???  When she was little I could buy LL Bean and Lands End but now that she's a teen, she wants clothes that are more trendy, you know?  And I don't blame her...I was a teen once too, back in the dark ages.

On the bright side our daughter doesn't want to dress immodestly, so at least I'm only up against the clothing stores and not her! :-)

The end.

Deer Butt Dent

That's the dent a deer made in the Husband's hood a couple of weeks ago.  This is the fourth deer my husband has hit in his 20ish year driving career, and at least luckily, this is the least damage of all his deer accidents.  (The previous one actually ran into the side of his car, and there were clumps of fur stuck in the door afterwards.)  Fortunately the Husband saw the deer and was able to slow way down before it ran in front of him, and he said the deer sort of bounced off his hood and ran off.

I think if the deer were smart they should just start making their funeral arrangements when they see my husband coming, lol!  (OR ELSE GET OUT OF THE WAY!!)

I've never hit a deer, have you?

The end.

How We Know Our Daughter Is Mad at Us at the Cabin

If you recall, we have these little owls on our cabin window sill (they watch over the place when we're not there).  We like to think of the Husband as the big owl in the middle, me as the brown owl to the right and our daughter as the little white owl.

Note how in this picture the little white owl has distanced itself from the other two, mean, horrible, unfair owls. LOL.........

The end.

Hot Week in the 'Dacks

We spent the week of July 4th up at our cabin.  It was hot, but it was really ok because we had the lake at our disposal for cooling off.  In fact we had such nice weather all week we did almost nothing but sit on the beach/float on the water/boat on the lake all week.  Here are some tidbits...

We watched fireworks from our boat on the lake - that was awesome!

In the evenings and mornings we got some work done on our latest 3,000 piece puzzle.

We ate out only one time - at Golden Corral!!!  I love that place. :-P

Just before Golden Corral we went to Lowe's and got a green plastic table to make it easier to sit on our upper deck and have a meal up there.  Also got an appliance part so that our washing machine could finally be hooked up.  It will definitely be nice to be able to wash towels and bedding up there, instead of bringing it back and forth.  Would you believe we got them for free??

The Husband caught a bunch of pickerel and just a few bass.  I caught a yellow perch.

Kept our find-a-geocache-a-day streak going (goal is to find a geocache a day for one year straight) and saw some interesting places.

What did you do for July 4th?

The end.