Ready for the weekend!

This is how I felt this morning when I got to work. I didn't look like this, as I am not a brunette man. But I felt this way.

After being here a few hours and ingesting my Pepsi One, I have enough caffeine in me to actually be awake at my desk. I am sure my boss would be pleased...IF he realized that there was an alternative to my being awake and productive at my desk. I don't think he realizes that.

This will be me at 3pm today.... Except that I am blonde, not skinny and not in a suit today. LOL! But this is how I will feel when I leave. Our management has bestowed on us the privilege of observing "Summer Hours," which means that we can leave at 3, IF we AND our immediate boss feel that there is no pressing reason to stay. No meetings can be scheduled at 3 or later and almost everyone winds down and leave before 3. I am on the marketing floor, so often, a lot of people don't even show up on Fridays. LOL!

My boss would prefer that I work continuously, around the clock, but I prefer to leave at 3. I have worked for him for 10 1/2 years and I pretty much get my way on stuff like this. LOL!

So, I am counting down until time to start my weekend!!

Ten pints of blueberries!

I didn't take a picture of my pints, but this picture is pretty!

Kroger had blueberries on sale for $1.77/pint. This is the cheapest I have seen them and I needed to buy blueberries this year, since we did not get to go pick them. My blueberry jam stash is running low and it is on my gift list.

So, I went to Kroger on Sunday, ready to buy and I looked at EVERY SINGLE pint that was on display and each and every one of them had at least one berry with MOLD on it! Ugh! I know some people will buy berries and just throw the moldy one away, but I can taste the mold if I do that, so if there is one moldy berry, I don't get them.

I went home with no blueberries that day. Why did I not get a raincheck, you ask, or ask if they had more berries in the back. Well, I don't even know! LOL!

Yesterday morning, I was thinking about it while at work and decided to call Kroger and ask if they had NEW berries, figuring if they did not, I would go get a raincheck. The produce person assured me that they had GOOD berries in.

After work...and working out....I went to Kroger and, sure enough, they had new berries. I got my 10 pints and was happy as a clam. Last night, I put them in ziploc bags and into the freezer they went. They will live there with my other fruit until I am in the mood for jam making. (Or Christmas is getting close, so I HAVE to make it. LOL!)

This weekend, I may get some peaches.

I sure wish I had a yard with fruit trees!

I'm jumping in to the Pay it Forward Challenge.

Annie Jones, over at Real Life Living, is participating in the Pay It Forward Meme and posted an offer to send a specialized homemade gift to the first three people who responded to her post and asked for one.

I, of course, posted as soon as I saw this. I LOVE handmade things! I love free things! And I especially love surprises!! I will be getting my gift within the next 3 months, so don’t know what it will be.

Now it's my turn to Pay It Forward!

Here's How It Works:

The first three people to comment on this post (and this post only) will receive a handmade, or home made, item from me within three months, completely free of charge. I have some great readers and this is a great way for me to reward some of them. You don't get a set date, but just know that some day within the next three months, you'll receive a little surprise from me.

The Catch (of course there's a catch):

You agree to Pay It Forward yourself after you receive your gift from me. Or even before you receive it. Send a gift to the first three people who respond to your post. The gifts should be handmade, by you, and somehow personalized for that person. (I may not live up to the personalized challenge, but I will be sending something I make.)

Anyone up to the challenge??

I feel so special!

This new award is from Ace at if you think round is funny…. Thanks Ace!

Rules:This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to six bloggers who must choose six more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I will pass this award to some of my bloggy friends that I find exceedingly charming...

1. SonyaAnn

2. A.Marie

3. Amiyrah

4. Annie Jones

5. Boondock Ma (Kim's ma)

6. Helene

Thanks for your very enjoyable blogs!

Veggie transformation...

On Saturday, Hubby and I went to a local farm to buy some fresh veggies. This farm has been around for as long as I can remember. More than 60 years, I think. Mom used to take us there as kids to pick strawberries. Yummy! As well as strawberries, they have tons of locally grown produce and occasionally some shipped in from other places, when they can't get enough local produce.

Hubby and I had a ball, though it was really hot and we didn't want to hang out there long. The farm does have a big building, so you are not in the hot sun, but it is cooled by fans and we were wanting some AC!

We loaded up a cart with corn on the cob, green beans, new potatoes, tomatoes, onions, various pepper, apples, plums, one banana (LOL! It was the only one slightly green and I don't buy really ripe ones.), celery, and lettuce. I think that was it. We filled 2 of my really big reusable tote bags and it only cost $26. Hubby was impressed as always. The produce there is so fresh and almost always cheaper than any stores.

I didn't take pics of everything we got, but I did take of pic of these veggies we bought so I could try my hand at making and canning salsa!

Yesterday, I pulled out my trusty food processor and got to work. I used tomatoes, banana peppers, onions, jalapenos, red cherry pepper and some bell peppers that are not in this pic. I won't go into the minute details of making the salsa, since I didn't take picks, but it entailed peeling, seeding, chopping and dumping in my stew pot. Then simmering.

After is was all mixed together and simmering, Hubby came in for a taste and declared it "restaurant quality". LOL! It really did turn out delish!

After simmering for a while, I put in canning jars and processed in a water bath. Something I had never done before. I make jam, but use the inversion method, so had not used water bath processing. It was totally easy!

Here is the final product:

I am so proud! Clearly I made a small batch. I didn't want to make a ton of it and then find out that we wouldn't eat it. Now that I know I can do it, I will be making more. The only thing that would make it better is if we could get the veggies for free. Alas, apartment dwelling does not lend itself to planting a large veggie garden.

Here is the recipe for my salsa. I took a recipe I found and modified to suit us.

Zesty Salsa

5 cups chopped, peeled Tomatoes (about 6 lbs.)
1 1/2 cups seeded and diced banana peppers (about 1/2 lb.)
1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers (2 large peppers)
2 1/2 cups diced yellow onion (1 large)
1 cup seeded and chopped jalapenos (about 1/2 lb.)
¼ cup seeded and chopped red cherry peppers (6 golf ball sized peppers)
1 TBS minced garlic
1 TBS Salt
½ cup + 1/8 cup cider Vinegar
Hot Pepper Sauce (optional, to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into 5, hot, pint jars; leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

There you go!

Babies on the balcony

Not people babies......

These babies...

Aren't they the sweetest! This mama dove made a nest in Hubby's Norfolk Pine that lives on our balcony. This is her 3rd or 4th set of babies in this nest.

For a couple of years she had a nest in one of the hanging baskets. (We assume it is the same one that came back. It could just be a look alike.) But one week, our the outside of our apartments was being painted and Hubby had to bring in his hanging plants while the painters worked around our balcony. This mama dove had some newly hatched babies in the one of the plants and was not happy when she came back with food and found her babies on the other side of our glass patio doors! Hubby said she pitched quite a fit for a while, so he got those babies right back outside when the painters moved on.

We think that Mama Dove decided that this tree would not be so easy to move inside. She is right....it is at least 6 feet tall and in a HUGE pot. She and her babies are safe here. Well, except from out prying eyes! You can tell she is used to us being around, though, as it does not bother her a bit for us to take pics of her and her babies. She, on the other hand, drives our cats crazy. LOL!

I received a new Award!

Yeah! Over the Top & One Word...

Happy Friday! To start the day off right, I got this Over the Top! award from A.Marie over at My Money Mission Online. She was one of the first people I met here in blogland and I love her to death. A.Marie, Thank you for the lovely award! (I love the idea of being over the top!!)

Here’s how it works: USE ONLY ONE WORD!

It’s not as easy as you might think. Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It’s really hard to use only one-word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your hair? blonde

3. Your mother? loving

4. Your father? brilliant

5. Your favorite food? mexican

6. Your dream last night? none

7. Your favorite drink? tea

8. Your dream/goal? happiness

9. What room are you in? cube

10. Your hobby? reading

11. Your fear? drowing

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something that you aren’t? spiteful

15. Muffins? banana

16. Wish list item? laptop

17. Where did you grow up? Texas

18. Last thing you did? worked

19. What are you wearing? clothes

20. Your TV? fine

21. Your pets? cats

22. Friends? many

23. Your life? wonderful

24. Your mood? content

25. Missing someone? sisters

26. Vehicle? CRV

27. Something you’re not wearing? pajamas

28. Your favorite store? Kroger

29. Your favorite color? Red

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? forget

32. Your best friend? Hubby

33. One place that I go to over and over? Curves

34. One person who emails me regularly? Sister

35. Favorite place to eat? home

I love all my bloggy friends so am passing this on to:

Ace @ If You Think Round Is Funny

Dawna @ A Kiss and a Peck

Erin @ Jane4Girls $800 Annual Budget (She's the reason I travelled into blogworld!)

Debby @ A Feast For the Eyes

SonyaAnn @ A Mom, Money and More (I know A.Marie gave this to SonyaAnn, too, but I just LOVE her!)

A. Marie passed this award on to 5 bloggers, so I am passing it to that many as well. If you aren't listed, that doesn't mean that I don't love you! I had to leave some blogs for other people to award!

Save $5 at Walgreens on Thursday and Friday!

I received an email with a link to get the above coupon. $5 off $25 purchase Thursday and Friday (16th and 17th) only. Not the greatest coupon, but if you have to go anyway it could come in handy.

Enjoy!!

I think I am becoming a Foodie!

From Wikipedia:

Foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news. Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food. For this reason, foodies are sometimes viewed as obsessively interested in all things culinary.

I started my blog to follow blogs about deals...and saving money. And I do follow those and love them! Thanks all!

But lately I have notice that a lot of the blogs I am finding and following are food related. I have found delicious sounding recipes and pictures that are almost food porn! Yes, I said it.....food porn.

Like thes:

Blueberry Crumb Cake at Amiyrah's....Yummy!

How to make jam at Debby's...I have been making jam for years, but still read every word with great interest!

Baked Ziti at Callista's...My family will love this!

Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread at Frieda's...How did I never think to add roasted walnuts to my raisin bread!

And that is just afew of them!! I want to make all the food on all the blogs I have found... seriously.

Of course, I still love all my bloggy buddies that I found before I started heading into this food blog addiction! Hopefully, some of you will find yummy recipes that you want to make as well!!

Do you think this is weird?

A friend sent me this video and I cannot decide if it is disturbing or entertaining. Please let me know what you think. Normally, I don't depend on other people to form my opinion, but I just don't know what to think about this.

Don't be jealous.

I have to brag that one night last week, I lived many a woman's fantasy! Don't worry, this is PG rated. LOL!

I got home from work and was beat...long, busy day. Hubby handed me a cold beverage...peach tea...and told me to take it easy. While dinner was finishing on the stove, I got to live that fantasy. Get ready for it.....my sexy hubby vacuumed, while wearing only his walking boots and boxer shorts. LOL! Okay, so the walking boots aren't sexy, but the boxer-clad vacuuming sure was! Hubby doesn't get it, but I know all the women will!

Have a great week all!

Oh, the places you will go...

visited 18 states (36%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or Like this? try: Archean

I found this on Queenie Jeannie's blog and thought I had not been that many places, but it turns out that I have! How fun!

Thanks, Jeannie!

Someone is doing crack on Facebook!!

Yes, I am on Facebook. I registered and set it up to keep in touch with my kids. I am also on MySpace for the same reason. I thought MySpace was enough, but Samantha..our college student....wanted Hubby and me to both get on Facebook. So, we did.

It has been pretty cool, since some of my family in Tennessee is also on there, as well as some friends and we keep up with what each other is up to. A really cool thing is that I have gotten back in contact with people from high school and most especially, I have gotten together with my best friend from jr. high. We became "not friends" our Sophomore year in high school. But we are friends again and I am very happy about that!

Why do I say someone is doing crack? Because, last night I got a friend request from Hubby's EX-WIFE!! What is up with THAT?! We have 2 mutual friends.....2 of our kids. (Meredith is not on Facebook.) I don't know why Hubby's ex thinks I would want to be her friend, or her be mine. Well, besides the fact that she is a little Jeckyll/Hydish. Sometimes she is really nice to me and sometimes she is pure evil. Fortunately, since the kids are grown, we have almost no contact with each other. Thank God! I told Hubby about the request and he is equally baffled. (Hmmm... maybe she misses me!)

I am choosing to ignore the request, since there is no option to respond, "What the hell were you thinking?"

Hubby is on the mend!

Hubby is out of the wheelchair! He was officially given the go ahead to walk, so now his feet look like this:
(SonyaAnn, sorry you can't see his knees in this pic!) The wheelchair has been relegated to the spare room.

The doc said that Hubby's right foot is totally healed, but wants to keep him in the walking boot for a while to "build tension" where the incision was. The left foot is almost there and most of the staple have been removed. We are hoping it will be totally healed by the next visit to the doctor next week.

Hubby's first question when we went to the doc last week was, "When can I drive?" LOL! It has been killing him that he cannot get out and drive. Doc said Hubby can drive as long as he doesn't get somewhere and "walk all over the place."

So, Sunday, when we went across town to meet our son, daughter-in-law and grandson for lunch, I let Hubby drive. He was so HAPPY! Silly boy. (I will post pics from our visit in another post.)

But Hubby is still behaving, since he wants both feet to be totally healed and not to have a setback. So, there's the update. Thanks for all the well wishes!!

Hubby has a man-crush!

Last Saturday morning, Hubby came into the bedroom, where I was putting on makeup, and turned on the tv.

"You have GOT to see this guy!" he said.

Now, I hear this from him on occasion and, generally, someone did som
ething really stupid and he thinks that I don't know how stupid people can be. LOL! So, I am expecting that someone robbed a bank where they had an account, or someone went to the police to report that they were beat up when they tried to burglarize a house, or something equally idiotic.

So he turns the tv to CBS and says, "Look at that guy! He had the most perfect face! I can't believe how perfect he looks." And he continued on and on about this guy:

This is Lonnie Quinn, the Weather Anchor on The Early Show Saturday Edition on CBS.

I admit, he is handsome, but, seriously, Hubby went on and on for at least half an hour, about how Lonnie could be a millionaire model, or a movie star. Why is he wasting his time as a weatherman, etc.

Then Hubby admitted, "Okay, I have a man-crush on him. I can't help it."

My man is SECURE in his masculinity. LOL!

If Lonnie starts doing the weather during the week, I know we will be watching CBS. LOL!