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!

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