New is Not Necessarily Better
Woman in the Middle | October 30, 2015I went to an office store to buy ink this morning. The morning hadn’t gone well so I was in a poor mood to begin with. Then I had every person in the store wanting to help me. I really didn’t need help. I have purchased ink there before. One young woman found me looking around the store and asked if I would be paying with a card. Well, probably, but since I was in the middle of the store and not ready to check out, the question was a bit premature. How I was going to pay was between me and the cashier.
When I went to check out I figured out what the deal was. They all carry around some little device now that allows them to check you out anywhere, with just the swipe of your credit card. Unfortunately, the new technology only had one thing going for it – portability. It wasn’t one bit faster than using the normal register. As a matter of fact, I think it was slower.
New is not necessarily better. I hope this office supply store figures that out before I have to go there again!!!
Halloween Decorations and Nap Time
Woman in the Middle | October 29, 2015I have my very own living, breathing Halloween decorations!
It is so funny to see the many ways Nox is like his big Uncle Blackie. As you can see, they both love the window seat, especially when the window is open and they get to enjoy the smells and the sounds of outside, as well as a nice view of birds and bugs.
When it is just Nox sprawled in the window seat, we sometimes have a hard time telling who is who. We think we see Blackie, then we realize it is Nox.
Lumos prefers the office chair near the window seat. He just loves rubbing his fur off on the chair, to insure we get as much as possible on the seat of our pants whenever we sit at the desk.
He so loves that chair, that sometimes he gets so caught up in enjoying it he tries to fall on his head.
Now that the kittens have full run of the house most of the time, we never know where we will find them when they conk out for what we call “pretty kitty nap nap time.” They might be on a kitchen chair (four to choose from!), or one of two couches, or one of three beds, or the window seat. So many places to choose from. But never on the ground, because that mean and smelly dog might find them, although she usually has elderly dog nap nap time about then, too.
Nothing is more peaceful than when the fur baby quadruplets all go down for a nap at the same time. Kind of makes me want to do the same.
Not Around Here
Woman in the Middle | October 27, 2015I have never been a huge purse person. Don’t get me wrong, I have used purses ever since the monthly you know what appeared on my life, so I am a long time purse user. But I am not a PURSE PERSON, in all capitals. I don’t dream of owning name brand, expensive purses. The purse I am using right now caught my eye because it was so colorful, so I splurged and bought it. It is one of the most expensive purses I have ever bought and I think it cost about $40.
(On a complete and total side note, I recently bought a “back up” purse that is similar to the one I am using now. It was on clearance at T.J. Maxx for $16. Score! I like to have a back up purse because they tend to have a zipper break or a handle come off at really inconvenient times. Besides, it was pretty.)
I was just reading a post on the Pioneer Woman blog. She was in New York and decided to treat herself to a purse at Saks Fifth Avenue. The one she saw and loved turned out to be $40,000. Yes, the prirce of a pretty nice car for a purse. And that purse was just sitting on a shelf where she could reach out and pick it up. Short of coating it with diamonds and having very high paid workers in some expensive European country hand stitch the thing together, pausing for an hour between each stitch, and only working four hours a day, I can not in my wildest imagination understand how any purse on this earth could cost $40,000 or why any one would want it.
But, then, I live in the backwater of western society, and am pretty darn cheap. But I am happy in my backwater and my cheapness. And I am happy with my $40 purse and its $16 replacement.
UPDATE: I realized after a comment I received that I never said if the Pioneer Woman bought the $40,000 purse. Of course she didn’t! She handed the purse over as quickly and carefully as possible to a sales woman and got out of Saks ASAP!
Two Easiest Appetizers EVER
Woman in the Middle | October 26, 2015With the holiday time of the year just about with us, parties will be happening. Sometimes you just need a big old crock pot of something to feed a crowd. Maybe you have to bring “finger food” to something. Maybe it is a party at your house. The two appetizer “recipes” I am about to give you are both finger licking good and people love them. I guarantee you will get complements on their tastiness. If you want to make something “homemade” these are not for you. But if you want something easy, fast, and delicious, these two appetizers are perfect!
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Buy a package of frozen meatballs. Stir up a bowl of sauce consisting of ketchup or chili sauce and whatever jelly or jam you have in the fridge. I recently did a batch that had both ketchup and chili sauce, because I had half a bottle of each, and some apricot and some grape jam, because I didn’t have enough of either type of jam. Just eyeball the amount you need, keeping in mind that it is always better if you have too much sauce instead of too little.
Put meatballs in the crock pot. Cover with the sauce. Turn crock pot to high for about three hours. After the meatballs are less frozen, you can stir them around to distribute the sauce better. Put out some toothpicks and watch the meatballs disappear. Seriously, people love these.
Delicious Chicken Wings
Buy a package of frozen, flavored chicken wings. I always buy mine at Costco because they have the big packages. Put wings in a crock pot. Set on high. Don’t worry if the wings are sticking out the top and won’t let the crock pot lid fit quite right. As they warm up they will settle down and the lid will be able to settle down a well. Set cock pot on high. Cook for four hours.
My friend Barb told me about this delightful way to cook wings. Frozen wings can get a little dry when you cook them in the oven. This way they are moist and succulent. These are great for a work potluck because you can take the empty crock pot and the package of frozen wings to work without having to worry about anything spilling. Once you get to work you pop the wings in the crock pot, set it on high, and they will be good to go at noon. Everyone will be asking for your recipe!
Just Trashy
Woman in the Middle | October 25, 2015We had a citywide clean up day on Saturday. Hubby and I volunteered to clean up along one of our busy streets. We figure we can’t complain about the problem unless we are willing to be part of the solution. It was chilly yesterday morning, because, after all, it is the end of October. I put on long pants. That was a mistake because it warmed up really quickly. Not surprising because it got up to 92 degrees yesterday. For that and a lot of other reasons I only lasted about an hour. However, we did pick up close to four bags of trash in that hour. What can I say, we apparently live with a bunch of people who think throwing trash out of their speeding car is OK.
Based on my hour of roadside trash picking, I leaned a few things. I can tell not as many people smoke anymore, as I only found three cigarette packs. Lots of people in my neck of the woods eat at Jack in the Box. I can report that Starbucks customers aren’t too snooty to toss their empty cups out of their car windows. The act of getting food and drink at a fast food restaurant apparently turns people into cretins and pigs since most of the trash was fast food cups, boxes, and wrappers. Also, and this one is gross, a common way to dispose of dead chickens is to tie them up in a grocery bag or empty dog food bag and toss them beside the road. Based on my conversations with other volunteers, this was not necessarily a problem on every road in the city. I just managed to pick a chicken-centric road, apparently. Lucky me!
I only found one dirty diaper, one syringe (with needle capped – so kind of them to do that before they threw it out of the car), three tires and one refrigerator. Amazing what you can pick up, learn, and see in just one hour of road side clean up!
Coyote Update
Woman in the Middle | October 24, 2015As I went out to get the newspaper this morning, the coyote sprinted from the bushes once again. Sigh.
Hubby and I inspected the area in question and found that it has made a nice little round spot on the ground to curl up in. We decided that Operation Coyote Eviction needs to be implemented.
First we are going to cut back all the plants and bushes surrounding the cozy hide away. We are hoping if the coyote feels more exposed it won’t feel as comfortable hiding in our bushes, because it won’t have a place to really hide.
We don’t know what Phase II will be. I guess we will figure that out if Phase I doesn’t work.
Evolution of Feline Relationships
Woman in the Middle | October 23, 2015The first time I held Blackie up so he could see the tiny kittens that had appeared in our yard, he just looked curious. I realize now Blackie was probably in shock. Nox, on the other hand, rushed to the door of the cage in happy excitement. I could still almost cry remembering that, because the little thing had done nothing but cower at the back of the crate until then. I think he thought Blackie was his mother.
After that first meeting, Blackie did nothing but hiss at the kittens when he saw them. And then came the day when he and Nox bumped noses. Backie still hissed at Lumos, who had apparently not genuflected appropriately. This acceptance of Nox and hissing at Lumos went on for a few more weeks. Finally, Lumos did something right and the Black Cat Bond was finally extended to the orange cat as well. The kittens have even gotten so bold as to play with Blackie’s swishing tale. That doesn’t go over so well and he lets them know to STOP with a growl and a hiss.
Then there was yesterday. I knew Blackie was on Eldest Daughter’s bed, but where were the kittens? I hadn’t seen them in a while. I looked everywhere and finally decide to look in the last place I figured they would be, Sure enough, there they were, on Eldest’s bed, too But they weren’t just on the same bed as Blackie, they were occupying the same three square feet as the old guy. It was so cute.
That is Blackie trying to sleep on the left. It is getting harder and harder to tell Blackie and Nox apart.
Honey, on the other hand, still chases the kittens every chance she gets, barking, growling, and generally trying to make everyone’s lives miserable. It is funny, however, when she mistakes Blackie for Nox. She runs up to him, barking her fool head off, and Blackie just gives her a look.
Usually in the afternoon all the furry members of the family settle down for a nap and the peace and quiet settles over the house for a few hours. Ahhhh….so nice!
Fabric Memories VI
Woman in the Middle | October 22, 2015It has been awhile since I posted a Fabric Memory, but that doesn’t mean I am done. There were a lot of memories in that closet. Today I am going to reminisce about two outfits, because neither one of them has a particularly long story.
The first outfit was actually one of my Mom’s. After she got sick and I had gained a little weight from having two babies, it ended up in my closet.
This outfit is quintessentiallymy mom. It is made from polyester fabric, and my mom rocked the polyester! Do you remember when polyester double-knit first came out in all its glory? My mom took a special class in sewing with the new stretchy fabric and made herself a number of outfits out of colorful double-knit.
Mom didn’t sew this dress and jacket, of course. By the time she bought this she had pretty much given up sewing. But I always liked the turquoise color. It went to nicely with her red hair. The cream colored top of the dress went nicely with her freckles and the ruffle was just her.
The other outfit was one my mother bought me (I am seeing a theme here. Mom seems to have bought a lot of the clothes I kept…) I know, I know, this one screams early 80s. I loved the black dress with the gold sparkly jacket. I just love shiny things! It looks like it has the then popular shoulder pads, but it doesn’t. The sleeves puff out just because of the type of material the jacket is made out of and the way the sleeves are designed.
I wore this outfit for New Year’s Eve, which probably doesn’t shock you. Where else would wear it??? I looked up 1980s fashion a while back and saw some photos of Madonna wearing similar jackets. Because, who wouldn’t want to rock a shiny gold jacket like this?
Nature’s Surprise
Woman in the Middle | October 21, 2015I have mentioned before that sometimes I feel like I live in Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. (I just totally dated myself, didn’t I?) Today was another one of these days.
Our three car garage has just one car in it and it is a project car, not a drivable car. My car sits in the driveway. So this morning, as the girls and I headed out to Zumba, we went on the front door, as usual, and headed to the driveway. Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes and Youngest Daughter let out a loud ”Ahh!” I thought she had startled a big bird. Nope. Eldest Daughter pointed to the coyote that was sprinting out of my yard into the street. Wow, that was a surprise!
We are surrounded by coyotes, but don’t see them all that much. We hear them, a lot, but they tend to keep to themselves for the most part. This one was thin and mangy and is probably ill, which is why it is hanging out in my yard. I felt sorry for it and my initial inclination was to feed it. DONT WORRY! I am not going to do such a thing. I don’t need a wild coyote living in my yard. Eldest pointed out to me that the reason I wanted to help is it because it looks like Honey.
Coyote
Honey
When Honey was younger, not so white on her face, and thinner, she REALLY looked like a wild animal. It is that dingo that was bred into the Australian Cattle dogs back in the day. Honey is also not a pure bred and her legs are a little longer than your standard Cattle Dog, making her look more like a coyote.
Signs indicate the real coyote has been hanging out for a few days. Here is hoping that seeing us made it decided to move on to the adjacent hills or golf course.
Coyote photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
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