Staying in the Village

Whew! It's been a long time between posts, but yup, I blame Facebook. Not a bad wag of the finger blame, but all the same....

Here is our house situation update: The wonderful people who were trying to buy our house were 3 weeks from closing when their world turned over, he was let go from his job at Caterpillar after 13 years. At that point they were going to have Dennis' (that is the name of the fellow trying to buy our house) sister lend them the money because they wanted to live in Chesaning and in our house that bad. The sister lived in New York and her fiance had sold a business and wanted to invest it in this family's future. So we waited a few extra weeks so some money could be moved to their account from a bank in England. Then there was a hold up from Homeland Security. (Oh great, now the FBI is gonna be flagging my blog. What a disappointment it will be for them.) On Tuesday, February 10th we received the call we were expecting.... The benefactor was, in fact, a crook and had embezzled all the money he was "lending" them and was using them to launder it. Sounds like an episode of "All My Children", I know. So that day, Joe put a "For Rent" sign in the yard. By Thursday the 12th we had been given the first month's rent.

We had moved a few seasonal and big items out to the house during the clean up and redo. It just made sense, we were that close to closing. But now we have everything (but the patio furniture and the grill) moved back and we are content to stay in the village for a while longer. The renters we have in both farm houses are really nice dependable people who needed safe places to live and I'm glad they are there.

I can't say I'm sad about moving.... That was one project that seemed so daunting, but I will miss seeing the farm house. She really cleaned up well. I won't miss painting, scrubbing, and tearing down wallpaper.

We had a party on Friday the 13th and our wonderful neighbors were here. We shared a few drinks and then told them the sad news....."We have to stay". It was so funny, they were cheering and ready to start the summer bonfires now.

We are so lucky to have great friends to share our time with. Thanks to everyone for your concern and laughs.

Happy New Year a little late

Yeah, I know, it's kind of late, but for the first time I am making New Year's Resolutions. It's not that I haven't thought of things that need changing every year, it is just hard to write them all out and not feel like a person in need of counseling. Maybe accepting constructive criticism (even from myself) is something to add to this to the list for 2010.

Anyway, here's my list for this year.....

1. Vow to take better care of my skin. There has to be time in a day to properly cleanse and moisturize every night. (Maybe my teeth brushing will have to lax).

2. Take less and print less photos. Let someone else snap and record an event and I will just get to enjoy it and not feel guilty for not scrapbooking it.

3. Do yoga for an entire year. 9:00am at the Peet Center on Fridays if anyone needs to help motivate me, (or help me up off the floor.)

4. Drink more water.

5. Yell at my kids less.

6. Don't buy anything that is not necessary. (I have some loose criteria on that one).

7. Try to be greener. I'm gonna tote those trendy canvas bags, turn off more lights and make everyone turn the water off sooner while tooth brushing.

An update on my nephew: The horrible looking (but life-saving) vent. tube has been removed from his precious little mouth and he is breathing on his own now. My brother said the nurses are increasing the amount of food he is getting by 1 cc a day.

We are all anxious to see this little angel come home, safe and sound.

Happy New Year.

Hot off the griddle

I know, lame title. Remember? I'm no writer folks. But I'd like to share the cool new product that graces my counter top. It's a folding electric griddle. It's made by Rival and purchased at the local Ace Hardware. You know the one, downtown, big parking lot, crazy furry man running the show. Any way, it's really cool. The plates come off so you can wash it in the sink. Genius! Then it folds in half and tucks away in a little space. Did I mention each side has it's own dial so you can just heat up one side or.... have either side at a different temp. This must be for people who follow directions and remember eggs should be cooked at certain degree and bacon should be cooked at another degree. (I don't even know what those degrees are)

I was checking out the features of the new appliance in between making my super cool cookies for our Friday cookie exchange/shopping/eating/drinking evening. They are Carmel surprise chocolate and they are delicious. The test batch went well, but we are having issues with portion control. The recipe was suppose to make 30 cookies and we may have gotten 25 cookies out of the deal. Reese was so cute opening every chocolate Rollo candy. That kid is a helper! When we were getting all the ingredients out there was a moment of shock when we discovered the brown sugar bag was bought at Jim's IGA. Flashback! Could brown sugar really be ok after all that time? The label had a 2000 date on it. Has Jim's really been gone for 8 years? Hard to believe. Well it was quality sugar because there was nothing wrong with it and we used it up! Tomorrow's trip to Frank's will yield the rest of the ingredients necessary for the next batch need to get our 3 dozen treats for sharing.

I've been getting the cute Christmas cards I crave! Getting good mail is the best part of December. It's so hard to sit down and label, stamp, sign and personal note all the wonderful people in your life, but not only is it great to get them it makes you realize how many awesome people are in my life. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to keep my mailman Frank employed.

Merry Christmas!

You Oughta Know

I've been enjoying the sounds of Matt Nathanson's new album (well it was released in 2007) and yesterday I saw he was on VH1 with the coveted "You Oughta Know" label. Not that this new spotlight will promise he sees more radio play, but I was happy for him.

My predictable favorite is "Come on get Higher". His lyrics and smooth guitar are beautiful and usually heard at least once a day blaring from the speakers of the mom-van. But the song "Car Crash" is good too.

His bio page puts it best....

"At the core of Nathanson's music are his lyrics -- deft turns of phrase that can alternately cut deep into the heart or heal it. That's evident throughout Some Mad Hope, a song cycle of sorts that chronicles the search for a genuine connection, touching on the sensually electric moments as well as the darker frustrations of sifting through the wreckage -- in hopes of finding redemption at the end of the day."

If only I could write. When people can capture a feeling, a scene or a person with insight and wisdom, the jealousy is overwhelming. Words fail me often. Matt is an musical and lyrical artist. Enjoy his talent.

Black and Blue Friday

This pretty much sums up my shopping experience on Friday. Well, maybe with some more bruising. It was fun, exhausting and fruitful all at the same time. That's a lot to accomplish before 7:00 am, but we did!

Lori and I took to the wind following the heels of a fellow shopper. We were at JC Penny in Saginaw by 4:00 am.

Now, before you say it, I know. That's early, there is nothing out there I need or want to make me brave those crowds at that hour on a holiday. Believe me, I've said all the same things, but kept thinking "Maybe I'm missing out on something. Everyone's doing it."

Penny's was relatively calm, except for the check out line. Dreadful. There was a price check issue, the clerk was confused, the patron was insistent. This would become a pattern and a theme by which the day would be remembered. Crummy check out line choices. When you see EVERY line moving along BUT yours, it tends to grind you.

Next, we were in line at Walmart. Wow. People really can be aggressive over electronics. Shoving, bumping, line-cutting..... you name it. We saw it. For a few brief seconds, when the clock struck 4:00 am I was scared. Then that killer instinct takes hold and you become the hunter you were born to be. Sheets? On sale? I don't need 'em. Grab 'em anyway. Blocks? Are they on the special? Focus. We are here for electronics. Thank goodness we had extra bodies for line holding and extra run backs to different departments. Finally, we made it to the check out. @#$%*! Same problem. Flashing check out lights. This time the women in front of us were mean. I mean fighting mean. *shudder* They could have taken all 3 of us in one swoop.

A few stores later (Staples, JoAnn Fabrics, K Mart and Meijers), we returned home. Victorious. Other than the pair of boots I need to return that are 2 different sizes (really?) the purchases made on Friday were really good ones and worth the purple marks that keep popping out on my arms and legs.

Maybe next year we should try some stores in Owosso.

Farm Work

These are some cool pictures from my day last week working on the farm. My mom came up to Chesaning and with Reese's help, we took all the old canned goods out of the basement. I love the fences and the field stone foundations around the barns and the house.
I was really happy with our view of the neighborhood. I think the price has dropped by almost 10 more cents. Yeah!
Above are the jars we are saving. They were the true canning jars of the bunch. The green or blue glass is my favorite and I don't think you can get them any more. Please note the retro wallpaper in the back. Funk-a-dellic.

These were the only 2 jars we couldn't open. As you can see, the contents are gross. To the left is a jar of pears. Pears! They don't end up that color unless they really, really stink people. shudder. By far the sauerkraut was the worst. Hands down. I may have left the room when that baby was opened. Weak stomach.
These two pictures are of the jars we sent to the recycling pile. They were mayonnaise jars, Taster's Choice jars, and anything that thrifty canning queen could get her hands on.
Reese was such a ham! He would dump each jar in the bucket and yell, "Is that gross Mom? Come on, smell it? Don't you love it?"
This is a shot of our "renters" in the barn. They are keeping an eye on us and not quite sure why we have brought 3 noisy animals into their world. Sorry guys, if you think it's bad now, wait until Joe fixes that window.

My technilogical advances

Alright. Everyone who reads this humble blog, know of my mad love for all things technological. Between Facebook, Twitter, 2 computers in the house, (don't get me started on my Macintosh addictions) I spend a fair amount of time in front of a screen. So my 2 new acquisitions are frustrating and cool at the same time.

My new-ish phone.

That's not a complaint. I know it's not new and it's not the i-phone I pine for, but that's ok. Baby steps people. You can't run the marathon until you've walked the village. I get that. Until this little bugger starts working right I haven't earned the privilege of the i phone. No big. But it will be a reason why my emails, texts and voice mails could be anything from strange, repeated or just plain dropped. Consider yourself warned.

The next bit of excitement that showed up via UPS to my house was i-life. Yes, at this point the i-terms are getting on even my nerves. This software is suppose to help me manage my photos better and really, who couldn't use help in that department? Don't judge me because there were 1,000 photos on my computer between June and November. Yes, that's just in 2008 and while some may say that's excessive, ok most agree that is nuts. In my defense we had some serious fun this year and pictures are proof. The only gripe I have is I can't find my pictures on my computer. They are there, I've burned some to a cd and deleted the extras, but I want to just open a file and find them and it's not happening. So tonight I'll be doing some research on the website, watching some tutorials and reading the NEXTEL book instead of reading my book club book, which isn't very good this month anyway. Enjoy your weekend girls.