Thursday, September 30, 2010

Green Living - Homemade Fabric Softner

double batch - Fruit Loops

I've been dying to try making my own fabric softner since the first time I made homemade laundry soap.  I have used straight vinegar before, in the interest of being green.  That works; your clothes are not as crunchy as they are without fabric softner.  But, I missed my fresh and homey scented Snuggle.  I decided that I could make my own fabric softner and add in scents.

This was very easy to make.  You use about 1/8 cup of this mixture with each load of laundry in a regular machine.  I use 1/16 cup in my HE washer.  So, it is definitely very inexpensive per load.  I made 2 batches and scented them like Fruit Loops.  I'm going to use it for the kids clothes.  As soon as I get another container, I will make some for the adult clothing and scent it with a fresh linen scent that I bought.

Ingredients:
2 cups of vinegar
2 cups of baking soda
4 cups of warm water
scent - as much (or as little) as you like

I recommend storing this is a container that you can shake.  I put a pic below to show that it does separate, so you will have to shake this up before using it.  I ended up using a 1 gallon vinegar jug.  I also recommend mixing this up in a wide container in your sink.  The vinegar and baking soda will fizz up.  If you mix in your sink, you won't have to worry about the over flowing.  I added the water first, then vinegar then baking soda, in small amounts to minimize the fizz.

Add the scent last.  Just add a drop or two and see how it smells to you.  You can always add more.  For reference, I made a double batch and I used 1.5ml of scent.

everything you need
use your sink

see how it separates?

10 Things - Goldfish Snacks

from: dealseekingmom Blog





A friend and her husband came to town over Labor Day weekend.  They came for a visit and brought S'mores Goldfish!  I never even heard of this variety.  They were delish - especially when you eat the marshmallow, graham cracker and chocolate together in one bite.  I bought our babies the Baby Goldfish a while back.  While chomping up a few, I remembered how much I like Goldfish!  I bought a package for us.  While chomping those up, I remembered how much I used to like the pretzel ones and the pizza ones.

Today's Top Ten List - My Favorite Goldfish:
  1. Pretzel
  2. Regular Cheddar
  3. S'Mores
  4. Baby
  5. Pizza
  6. Parmesan
  7. Colors
  8. Sour Cream & Onion
  9. Saltine (especially in tomato soup)
  10. Red Hot
Apparently there are ranch flavored Goldfish?  I have to try these out!

TV Recap - Gossip Girl - September 27, 2010

I just love a secret society!   Gossip Girl doesn't disappoint with it comes to societies.  Hamilton House is the new place to be.  I'm so happy that Serena and Blair put their friendship first.  Maybe they will lave all that catty competition behind!  Juliet is in for it now that Serena's in the club and Lilly is in the know.

Whoa, Dan was the most exciting part of the epi?  Not Dan's baby, WOOT!  Dan should thank his lucky stars that he no longer has to have Geogina Sparks in his life.  Too bad about little Milo, though.  And, Dan and Vanessa are back together and are now live-in-lovers?  Did not expect that to happen so soon into the season.

Still not too invested in Chuck & Eva.  I saw from the previews that there is some excitement with them next week.  It will take a great storyline to hook me.

How cute was Chuck with Lilly?  Even though he is awful, I still like this relationship.  Chuck betta watch out for Papa Humphrey.

Blair and Doroda were so cute when they showed Serena her bedroom!

So happy that Nate isn't letting Serena off easy this time.  She usually bats her eyes at him and he forgives her.  But, she did cheat on him, so she deserves some time on the freeze.

Questions:
Is Juliet poor or not?  She left the tags on her clothes in an earlier epi.  But, she's in the Hamilton House and is the Key Master.  Wouldn't those girls have noticed her clothing issues?  Or, does she borrow everyone's clothes?  Maybe that's why she was joking to Blair about borrowing her clothes?

Who is her jailbird bf?  Do we know who he is?  He looks familiar but, I do watch a lot of TV, so I could just recognize him from another show.

When is Little J coming back?  Why doesn't Eric get more screen time?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Craft Supplies on Etsy



(I must apologize for my pictures being mis-aligned.  I need to learn how to edit some code, or something).

I like to scrapbook and make cards, occasionally.  To my great surprise, one day, I noticed that I can buy craft supplies on Etsy.  This surprised me, for some reason.  Unique, handmade craft supplies?  Yes!

from: norajane, Etsy
from: norajane, Etsy
Some of my favorite items are these handmade stamps and ink pads.  I own a bunch of items from this shop.

These chipboard items would be great for scrapbooks or cards. I think that my favorite item below would be the buttons!
from: Annie42, Etsy
from: Annie42, Etsy

from: Cornerstop, Etsy
from: blackscrapcat, Etsy
from: SuzanneBWebb, Etsy
from: SkullandCrossBones, Etsy

from: cocoscreations, Etsy
from: Kimmieprout, Etsy

from zwillinge97, Etsy



Our First Geocaching Adventure! (Massachusetts)

Dad's Checkered Flag was the name of the first Geocache that we found in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

We went to the cemetery once and thought that we were close.  But, it turns out that even though our car GPS says that it can be hand held, it really won't work for Geocaching.  Our GPS, TomTom One snaps you back to the real road when you are in the woods.  Since I am usually driving and not usually in the woods, I am happy to use this GPS for driving only.

I talked with my Geocaching friend about her GPS and her Geocaching friend's GPS (did ya follow that?).  After all that we decided to go with the Garmin eTrex Venture HC.  The price was right and it did everything that I need it to do.  This hand held GPS should not be used for traveling in the car as it only has major highways.

When we left the cemetery the first time without having located the Geocache, we immediately went by another cemetery!  We pulled in and checked it out.  It seemed like we could get to the Geocache through this cemetery, too.  Now, I was thoroughly confused - which cemetery was the correct cemetery?

We went home and checked the Geocache coordinates on Google Maps.  If you haven't used this awesome site yet, you are missing out!  I use it at least once a week.  From the aerial shots on Google Maps, we realized that either cemetery would work but that it was easiest from the first cemetery.  Since I am a bit of a hobby-hopper, I REALLY didn't want to spend the $ to buy a hand held GPS.  So, on another day we went back to cemetery #1.  All 4 of us were there for the first 2 attempts.  We got within 85 feet of the cashe and then... TomTom snapped us back to the main road.  We decided to get  hand held GPS after all.

In order to fund this hand held GPS purchase I looked through the house for some junk to sell.  Read more about this here. In ended up only costing us about $30 out of pocket for this adventure device.

The hand held GPS arrived on a Friday.  I added batteries and then I turned it on and let it sync up.  The online review's on Amazon said that it took a long time to find satellites.  We must live in a satellite dense area as it didn't take long at all to find 33 satellites. The next day happened to be date night at our house.  So, after the babysitter arrived, we packed up the hand held GPS and went back to cemetery #1.

We quickly found the correct area in the woods.  Now, we had to find the Geocache!  We found  Lock & Lock container attached to the bottom of a log.  I really wish that I had the camera, but, since we were heading to dinner and a concert, I didn't want to leave our camera in the car.  One day I am going to get another point & shoot camera.  I miss being able to stick the camera in my pocket.  Anyway, back to the story:  the log was cut away to make room for the Lock&Lock container.  The container fit inside the log and the log would still sit flush on the ground.  What a great design!  We were sad that the kiddos missed this first Geocashe.  But, it was worth the trip while we had the baby sitter to make sure we knew what we were doing.

And, because everyone always asks - what did we leave and what did we take?  For us, this was a TNLN (Take Nothing, Leave Nothing).  There were some cars and stuff in the cache but, we don't need anything like that.  When the children are older, we won't have that luxury, for sure!

TV Recap - Boardwalk Empire - September 26, 2010

from: NYDailyNews

Alright HBO, I need you to grab me and pull me into Boardwalk Empire ASAP or I am going to have to move on.  After all, I always have Veronica Mars on DVD to keep me entertained.  I want to like Boardwalk Empire.  I like the period, the setting, the subject and I like Nucky.  But, I need more.  I've heard that this show has a slow build and that it will payoff.  But, I need some payoff now! 

So what did we learn?
Jimmy's family celebrates Christmas late, due to cash.
Jimmy's Mom is a cabaret dancer and Jimmy isn't much of a writer.
Nucky wants $3,000 from Jimmy to square up the incident.
The FBI-IRS guy is on the hunt.
Nucky thinks that only 4 people were killed during the incident but Jimmy says 5.  Dead guy #5 is who we see way at the very end when a guy comes out of the woods and goes up to the handjob car.
Jimmy no longer drives for Nucky.
Al Capone doesn't like reporters - at all.
Nucky and NYC are on the outs. 
Al Capone doesn't Western Union his friends cash.

Mrs. Shroder didn't give any info up to FBI-IRS but she also gave Nucky his money back.

My Questions:
What is the Commander's official title? If Nucky is the Treasurer, what is he?
Is he losing it?  What was all that jazz with Luanne, his maid?  

Is Mrs. Shroder upset that her husband is dead?  Is she plotting a way to get Nucky?  She looked quite disappointed when her visitor at the hospital was Nucky's brother, and not Nucky.

How much longer must we put up with Nucky's girlfriend?  She is awful.  When she speaks, I wish that I had hit the mute button.

Jimmy received an Honorable Discharge, right?

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Product Review - Lego: Harry Potter (Years 1-4) for Wii

Lego: Harry Potter (Years 1-4) for Wii is such a fun game!  We have played a bunch of these Lego games for Wii.  My favorite was the first Indiana Jones.  Batman was also quite fun.

These games don't require you to fling the Wii remote around.  They are strategy/adventure games.  They are easy enough but still fun.  My favorite part is that 2 people can play at the same time.  Both play on the same screen.  If the players get too far apart, the screen will split so that both players can see what they are doing (this aspect is an improvement over some older Lego games).

We played some of the other Harry Potter video games.  I find this one to be just a fun.  Since we are really comfortable with the Lego controls and "rules" we were able to just jump right in.

Recipe - Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese - Non-Crockpot

My husband's coworker made this recipe first.  She brought leftovers to work and he liked the look & smell of it so he asked her for the recipe.  The original recipe came from here at the Food Network .  I always change things up a little depending on what I have on hand and my skill set.  The prep for this dish was pretty long, I would say about 30 mins.  Also, this is a RICH meal, so the week that you make this plan to serve grilled chicken and fish the rest of the week, haha!


Ingredients:
1 stick butter, cut into 3-3-2 tablespoons
Kosher salt (for boiling pasta only)
1 lb of Elbow macaroni
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery
3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup of Frank's Red Hot sauce
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of dry mustard
2 1/2 cups of half and half
1 pound of sharp cheddar cheese
8 ounces of pepper jack cheese
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

What I changed:
  • I used table salt, not sure if it's Kosher or not.
  • I used rotini because I didn't have a full box of elbows.
  • I added 1 tablespoon of butter.
  • I increased the onion from small to medium.
  • I skipped the celery because I only like it raw, not cooked.  Unless someone else is cooking then, it's fine.
  • I used regular chicken breasts and boiled them since I didn't have a rotisserie chicken on hand and I think that boiled chicken breasts hold up better in casseroles.
  • I used garlic powder on the chicken instead of mincing fresh garlic
  • I used powdered mustard because I couldn't find dry mustard in the spice aisle.
  • I used shredded cheddar.
  • I used a block of pepper jack that I cubed myself for easier melting.
  • I only had regular bread crumbs, not panko, so I used those.
  • I didn't have any parsley but there were some green flakes in the breadcrumbs.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain.


Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and garlic and cook 2 minutes, then add 1/2 cup hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 more minute.


Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and mustard with a wooden spoon until smooth. Whisk in the half-and-half, then add the remaining 1/4 cup hot sauce and stir until thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, then whisk in the sour cream until smooth.


Spread half of the macaroni in the prepared baking dish, then top with the chicken mixture and the remaining macaroni. Pour the cheese sauce evenly on top.


Put the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted. Stir in the panko, blue cheese and parsley. Sprinkle over the macaroni and bake until bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Note:
To help cut down on the number of pots and pans, I boiled the pasta, boiled the chicken and melted the cheese all in the same pan  (I used the same 3x, washed it in between).
cheese and onions

chicken

cheese

chicken & hotsauce

3 layers

3 layers + cheese sauce
with bread crumbs and blue cheese

TV Recap - Brothers and Sisters- September 27, 2010

What a year those Walkers have had on Brothers & Sisters.  I had no idea that we were jumping ahead in the story line by 1 calendar year (until about 2 weeks ago).  I LOVE this idea!  Everyone now knows that Saul is HIV +.  They have all had a chance to digest the accident.  Robert is in a coma and Holly has memory loss.  Justin is back from his year in the war, Rebecca is still angry with him for leaving.  Luka is a model and a HOT one at that.  I am so happy to see Sara and Luka in a nice relationship.  I really like those 2 together.  I knew that when he left last season that he would be back to stay.  I hope that Rebecca shows up to speak to Justin in person.  I really wish that she was going to stay on the show.  Does anyone know what happened?  Was it her choice to leave?  Maybe it's too awkward now that her & Dave Annabelle aren't together?   They are all going to be  loaded after they get the money from the Narrow Lake sale.  Lucky ducks!! I think the Holly-has-amnesia storyline is going to be so much fun.  How great was it when she asked Nora if William knew she was here?  HAHA!  I'm glad that Kevin found a type of law to practice that he enjoys.  My favorite scene was when Kitty & Justin make up at the end.  LOVE  how Justin talks to Nora at the end of the epi, we need our nosey, bossy, controlling mother back!  That was (so true) great.  The Walker family dinner was the perfect ending to the season opener.

I have a plot question:
What happened to Scottie and Kevin's baby?  The baby dies in-utero because of a genetic abnormality?  OK, I re-watched this epi and Scottie says that they had 2 miscarriages.  It seems like Kevin blames the surrogate.  Wasn't she Scottie's friend (Michelle?)?

And, I have a storyline vent, or two:
  1. I need a Justin-drama break.  I hope they don't focus on his drama too much.  He brings on his own trouble.  He had a wife and he completly disregarded her wishes and went off to war.  
  2. Please, TV powers that be, no more epis that depict Kitty dating.  Yuck.  She's too awkward to date and it's way too awkward for me to watch.  She needs to be a single mother and widow until the show ends.






Monday, September 27, 2010

Weekly Menu - September 27, 2010

If you haven't had a chance to check out the About Section of the Weekly Menu, please check out now for info on sides & veggies.


Monday - Buffalo Chicken Mac&Cheese (never made this last week due to the chaos)
Tuesday -  Buffalo Chicken Mac&Cheese (never made this last week due to the chaos)
Wednesday - Baked Mexican Fish (never made this last week due to the chaos)
Thursday -  Baked Mexican Fish (never made this last week due to the chaos)
Friday -  Grilled Chicken (BBQ maybe)
Saturday -  TBD
Sunday -   TBD

Any suggestions?

As I blog about the recipes, I will start linking them to the weekly menu.  But,  I'm not there yet.

Weekend Recap - September 26, 2010

Ah, Friday - this was a recuperate day.    It was such a nice day!

Saturday was a beautiful, HOT and muggy day here.  We took a walk up the street to a little local festival.  We ate lunch there and walked around.  It was definitely geared towards older kids with the crafts and games.  We will take the kids back next year.  The kiddos has a good afternoon nap and then we did a BJ's trip for some much needed baby wipes.  Now we have over 1800 wipes.  Well, now I have 1700 wipes, haha.

Sunday the kids had their am nap and we zoomed out of the house to get to Church.  After Church and coffee hour we came home, fed the kids napped them then we went Geocaching!  We did not find the first 2 caches.  I think that 1 may have been stolen.  I am not sure what the second cache issue was.  It seemed like the GPS was wrong.  But, the third one was a great find and now we even know where there is another bike path withing 20 minutes of home!

Also during the weekend, we started turning our office into more of a playroom.  I curb-cycled a big cabinet that I was using to store cook books and alcohol.  Don't worry, I didn't curb-cycle the alcohol.  I had to part with some cookbooks (the horror!) and we had to do some kitchen rearranging.  But, it was worth it.  Now I just have to organize my craft supplies.  The kids have more room to play and now they have space to grow.

At local festival

Pirates!

can you spot both babies?

TV Recap - Keeping Up With The Kardashians - September 26, 2010

from cardiogirl's blog

From last week's previews of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, I hoped that Malika and Rob were really hooking up!  I think that they would be so cute as a real couple.  It was a big tease, of course, though.  Or, was it?  LOL.  LOVED how crazy Khloe got.  Since she is always orchestrating scenerios to torture other people, it was great that the karma bus gave her a turn.

The BG5's are cute!  I think Kris Jenner really doesn't need another set of girls to manage, but, it will make for interesting TV.  I love Khloe walking on the beach in her LV heels.  If I heard "pier" I wouldn't picture walking in the sand, either.

Bruce is such a cute Grandpa with Mason!

The whole diaper story line was so silly.  Those girls are nuts - cutting Kris's leggings off?  My oh my!

PS
I was hoping to have a Sons of Anarchy Recap for you today but I still haven't seen the new epi!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Vacation Day!

Due to a craptastic day, that culminated with getting rear ended at CVS, I am taking a vacation day on Friday.
There's won't be any new content. 
Please enjoy some of the archives.

Happy Weekend!

Green Living - Reusable Shopping Bags - Wash Them!

Sorry, I accidentally published this article earlier in the week.  If you got a blank article from me - whoops - apologies!



This is a short post - I was watching GMA (Good Morning America) the other day and they mentioned how you should wash your reusable shopping bags in HOT water because if you don't, bacteria and salmonella may live in them and contaminate your food.  OF COURSE YOU SHOULD WASH YOUR SHOPPING BAGS.  Except, I hadn't washed mine.  Ewwwwwwwwwwww gross!  Now, they are clean.  I'm going to add this little task to my calendar!

10 Things - Nicknames For Juliette

10 nicknames that we have coined for Juliette:

  1. Julie
  2. Jules
  3. JC
  4. Sugar Babe
  5. Sleeping Beauty
  6. Baby Girl
  7. Baby A
  8. Julia Goolia
  9. Pumpkin
  10. Honey Bun
Does anyone know where we got Julia Goolia from?  I think it was from a book that I read.  But, I have no idea which book it was...

Sugar Babe herself, Sept 2010

    TV Recap - Boardwalk Empire - September 19, 2010

    Finally!  HBO got me all excited about Boardwalk Empire over the summer and I was tired of waiting.  I read on this blog that it had already been renewed for a second season, so, that cements me watching for a while at least.

    OK, call me crazy but I  thought that tonight started really slowly.  I was expecting the Sopranos type action.  None of that was to be had for quite a while.  I do have to say that I liked Nucky more than I expected too.  Steve Buscemi managed to play a likable Treasurer-Gangster.

    I missed the entire point of the funeral home scene the first time I watched the epi.  What was that about?   I put the show back on and zoomed to this scene.  Alright, now I see:  Mickey had to show Nucky his secret factory where he makes and bottles alcohol.  This comes into play later when Jimmy gives up the funeral home while he takes the alcohol.

    How funny was it watching the FBI-IRS guys watch all the gangsters in the hotel, while they were talking on the phone?

    So, Chicago brokered a deal between NYC and NJ?  Or, do I have that mixed up and NYC brokered a deal between NJ and Chicago?  It was definitely Chicago brokered a deal between NYC and NJ.  One of the gangsters (from NYC?) is a really good card counter.  He and his lackey take the casino for $93,000.  This covers the $60,000 that they would owe for the alcohol and nets them $33,000 in their pocket. I don't think this was wise move, far away from home.

    How interesting to see Al Capone in 1920 before he was a big shot. Jimmy and Al join forces to make reputations for themselves.  This is that I was expecting in the action department.  Jimmy says yes to the FBI-IRS guys, gives them the funeral home.  This distracts them from what he is doing:  Jimmy&Al take out NYC's crew, grab the alcohol and hit the road.  Al takes the alcohol to Chicago and he's a hero.  Jimmy gives Nucky a nice chunk of change to get himself back on the good list.

    It also caught my attention when we learned that Nucky likes Mrs. Shroder (the lady who's husband beat her ever when pg).  I'm thinking that he would like another wife.  Someone much more respectable, sweet and nice than his current 'ho.  At first, I thought that maybe the husband was just going to get a beating.  Not his lucky day, tho.  Those poor kids (and the wife) will be better off.

    Jimmy and Nucky's relationship seems to be the center of the show.  I like that vibe.  A one-man-in-power show was more of what I was expecting.  I like that it's more about the relationship and I think it would be great to all see how NYC and Chicago were effected by Prohibition as well as AC.

    What did you all think of The Boardwalk set?  I loved it!  They did a really great job.  The Incubator Shop was really interesting.  Talk about taking things for granted.  When Jimmy's little boy was running into the stores I we got a good glimpse of the store fronts.   The Fortune Teller Shop at the end of the episode was done well, too.  I need to brush up on my mobsters before next week (yes, I know that this isn't historically accurate).

    For the future:
    I wonder what the 'ho is going to do for dramz when she realizes that she is being replaced.
    Who exactly is The Commodore?
    Did Jimmy's dinero get him out of the hot seat with Nucky?
    Does Al own up to murdering that guy?  Wait, was that Al or was that Charley (the crazy lackey for NYC)?  I am confused on this plot line!

    Wednesday, September 22, 2010

    What Am I Feeding These Kids?

    My kids really like food.  At about 7 months, Jack decided he didn't want anything that came on a spoon, unless he could do the spoon himself.  I occasionally feed him something and let him do the spooning.  But, since that is so messy, I tend to give them finger foods.  I am always looking for new thing to feed the twins.  I get bored with the same old, same old.  J&J actually don't seem to mind the times when they eat ham for lunch 4 days a week.  I would.  But, they are good sports.

    Here are some of the convenience foods that the kids like to eat:
    banana cookies - Gerber
    biter biscuits - Gerber
    freeze dried bananas and strawberries - Gerber
    Puffs - all flavors - Gerber
    Crunchy sticks - all flavors - Gerber
    rice husk cookies- Baby Mum Mum 
    Yogurt Melts - all flavors except peach - Gerber

    They are CRAZY about plain cheese curls that a coworker of Tom's gets from the Polish Grocery Store.


    They both dislike Spaghetti O's and only Juliette will eat Beachnut's Toddler Meals - Lasagna flavor.

    Thankfully, both kiddos LOVE to eat real food!
    They like chicken, pork, ham, deli ham, deli turkey, hamburger and linguisa.  A week or to ago, I made crockpot pork, potatoes and onions in cream of mushroom soup and the kids LOVED that meal.

    For veggies they like carrots, peas and corn.  They also like avocado.  Fruits include strawberries, bananas and kiwi fruit.  Blueberries were not a hit but they only tried them 1x before the season ended.

    We had chicken tenders once, the kids loved those.  They like waffles, pancakes, toast and they absolutely love yogurt.  They like Yobaby, some kid yogurt that has 25% less sugar and they like Go-Gurts.  Cherrios and Kik are their favorite cereals.  But, they prefer Gerber Puffs.

    Animal crackers, cereal bars, CHEESE (Colby Jack and American, occasionally cheddar), chocolate pudding, rice and pasta round out their favorite foods.  Tonight they had some diced potatoes that were really soft and they loved those.

    I haven't tried green beans yet as I think that they need some more teeth.  One day soon I am going to make them a grilled cheese sandwich.  After they turn 1 year old, they can have PB&J!

    If you have any food suggestions, please let me know.  Here are pictures of tonight's dinner: diced carrots, diced chicken breast and potatoes.

    How To Raise Cash For A Hand Held GPS:

    I am currently not working.  I promised myself that I would not take up any new hobbies unless they were not sitting-down hobbies.  I like paper crafts, cross stitch, Wii, board games, puzzles, word puzzles, reading, blogging, cooking, baking, surfing the net, reading Google Reader updates, going for walks, watching TV, watching movies and talking on the phone.  I made a promise that I wouldn't get us involved in any more hobbies unless the were more active.

    Geocaching is perfect for us because you use the computer to find out the info (I like that), there are all kinds of accessories (travel bugs, Cache to leave, Cache to take, entire Geocaches to design, loot to shop for), there are occasional puzzles and you hike and search to find the Geocache.

    I didn't want to spend money on Geocaching, least I don't stick with this fun new hobby.  But, when we decided that the car GPS just wouldn't cut it, I decided to declutter and get me a new hand held GPS.  I decided to list my CBEFM for sale, along with the box of remaining sticks that I have and one of my Wii games.  If you don't know what a CBEFM is, keep it that way.  Especially if you are male.  Trust me!  LOL.

    I love decluttering.  We have a small house and we just can't hang onto everything.  It was hard for me to get here, to this mindset.  But, I always feel great after I declutter.  I also always feel great after I get my new stuff.  Go figure!

    I listed the CBEFM on Craig's List and quickly sold it to a nice lady who arrived at our exchange promptly, with cash.  I listed the Wii game on Amazon and sold that within 1 week.  I had about $87 towards the new GPS and I had less junk in the house.  One of these days I will do  post about how to sell your old stuff to get new stuff.  Bye, I have to go ply with my GPS now!

    TV Recap -The Great Food Truck Race Finale - September 19, 2010

    Here it is, the final food truck episode!  I am so excited to see if Gill 'em All is going to be able to take down Nom Nom!  I would actually love to eat at Nom Nom, so, I'll still be happy if they win.  But, Nom Nom SMOKED everyone for 5 weeks!

    What a cool way to shake thing up by having the trucks earn $500 in each NYC borough before they are allowed to move on.  I LOVED seeing the girll guys make a banh mi and seeing the Nom Nom's make a burger.  Congratulations to Nom Nom for their cross over burger!

    Grill 'em all was very smart and used the Frenchie's restaurant connection in order to get their food supplies.  This allowed them to get a head start.  I think this was a key component of their win.  Congratulations to the Grill 'em All Guys - you surprised everyone and worked hard for your win!  



    Does anyone have a yummy food truck near them?  I don't mean a Mr. ShadyRoachCoach either!

    All images are from the Food Network site.
    Nom Nom
    Gill 'em all