Times Aren't THAT Tough, Are They?
I was flipping channels on Sunday while drooling over the Pioneer Woman recipes and waiting anxiously to hear about the Compassion Bloggers on their mission trip to India, when this commercial came onto TV.

Please watch the first 35 seconds of this infomercial for the Smart Mop






Are times really that tough that if a soda spills on my floor that I would ring it out of the mop, back into my glass and drink it?

I think not.

How to (not) Make Hard Boiled Eggs....

1. Fill saucepan with warm water. Place on stove.

2. Turn on the burner.

3. Get eggs out of the 'fridge.

4. Gently tap eggs on the counter until there is a hairline crack. Put into water.

5. Say to yourself, "I will not let these eggs boil for an hour like I've done the last 2 times I've made hard boiled eggs."

6. Walk away smiling because you are determined that you will remember.

7. Notice kitchen counter needs to be scrubbed down. Grab bleach spray and paper towels.

8. Wipe down said counters.

9. Look out the kitchen window and think "I should put out those new solar lights along the sidewalk."

10. Go out to garage and open storage closet to look for the solar lights.

11. Curse the Big Guy because he's left the light on, in the storage closet, for at least 24 hours.

12. Look to the ceiling and silently say to God, "I know....I know...."

13. Find said solar lights. Spend 7 minutes peeling off the UPC symbols and pulling out the battery "tags" so that they'll charge properly in the sunlight.

14. Look through house for any sort of shoes that don't require laces to be tied. Settle for the flip flop & socks look.

15. Go outside and try to mentally space the lights evenly. Push said lights into the ground.

16. Look to the sky and silently say to God, "Please help the lawn care boys to not destroy my lights this year with the weed whip. Thank you. Amen."

17. Come inside and notice the kitchen floor needs to be swept.

18. While getting the broom you hear a bubbling, popping sound. You stop dead in your tracks and shout, "AHHH! THE EGGS!" Which causes you to drop the broom, dash to the kitchen and exhale because you caught the water just as it was starting to boil.

Whew! Thankfully, the eggs were saved.

Amen.

Oh My God, Oh My God, You Guys....
Next Saturday the Big Guy and I are going to see Legally Blonde the Musical.

Here's a clip found on YouTube of part of the original Broadway cast. It's lengthy, but funny none the less. This last week was a rough one, but this certainly put a smile on my face and a giggle on my lips. While I'm doing my best to brush off last week and learn from it, I won't lie....

I am so stinkin' excited about going to see this!

I just might break into song.

I hope the Big Guy is prepared.


Please note...there is some language that may not be good for little ears--or if you're at work. Therefore, I'd listen to this with earphones.

It's Thursday! Thankful Thursday!!


Yep! It's another installment of Thankful Thursday. Check out the White Family Blog to learn more about the Thankful Thursday creator, Jonathan.

So, what are you thankful for this week?

Me?

• Listening to Phylicia Rashad speak at the Smart Talk lecture.
• Broadway soundtracks: right now, it's Rent and Legally Blonde.
• Iced, skim latte's with sugar free turtle flavoring. Yum.
• A new printer with scanner so that I can upload photos like these to facebook. heh heh heh.

I'm in the back. Bad hair and all.

I'm in the second row from the bottom, 3rd person in.

Bowl cut and all. I am even wearing jeans under my robe.

My life as a sophomore in high school.

Yes. They are my friends. I wouldn't change a thing about them.

One Word: Inspiring....
That describes the Smart Talk lecture with Phylicia Rashad.

INSPIRING.

My friend Tracy and I had the opportunity to see Phylicia Rashad (you know....Mrs. Huxtable from the Cosby Show?) speak at Orchestra Hall as part of the Smart Talk lecture series.

First and foremost, I must tell you. Phylicia Rashad is stunning. I swear to you and all the his Holy that when I get to be her age, I hope I look half as good as she does. And I loved her trousers. Wide leg trouser pants made of free flowing fabric....heaven.

What was amazing to me was her story. Here are the highlights--that may surprise you!

• She grew up in Texas where her mother was a homemaker & published poet and her father was a dentist
• She loved adventure
• She excelled in academics--which was guided by her mother
• Her parents divorced when she was 6 (in 1954).
• She got her first taste of acting as the MC of a production when she was a young child.
• She graduated from Howard University--with honors
• She moved to New York City to pursue acting shortly after college.
• She lived at the YWCA when she first moved to New York.
• She had her first child, but divorced soon after. While pregnant with her first baby, she was offered the role of Benita in the Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun. She gave up that role, and her sister, Debbi Allen, got the part.
• She was the understudy for the lead role in the Broadway show, Dreamgirls. When the lead was given to someone else, she quit because, as she told the director, "I'm a leading lady." He agreed, and she was gone. (could you imagine if she stayed?)
• She was given the opportunity to audition for 3 shows. She received parts in all 3. She picked one, and was let go before it even started.
• Because she was let go--she had to collect unemployment
• She decided while in the unemployment line one day that this visit would be the last. The next day she was offered the opportunity to audition for the soap opera One Life to Live.
• Soon, another show came her way--The Cosby Show.
• She is really is fluent in Spanish!

What is amazing to me about her story is that she came from a home where her mother and father were very accomplished & affluent. Her story is not rags to riches, like you hear of so many other celebrities. She is your every day, American girl with a dream. Someone who, as she put it, always came in first in every competition or contest. While pursuing her acting, she now had to prove it--because she was amongst others who were always first.

Too often we look at celebrities and see people who always get what they want. Not Ms. Rashad! Girlfriend had to work hard to get where she was today. Not once did I get a sense of "entitlement" from her. I got a sense of hard work and dedication to her career choice and where life is taking her.

I left the lecture last night inspired. Why? Because she still loves what she does. Through all the hard times--unemployment, divorce, death of her father--she was able to keep going. Which you would hope would happen, right? But in today's economy, it's tough! As she said to us, "...there is always something good, if we take a moment to see it."

I hope you find your "something good".

To Tag, or Not to Tag. That is the Question....
I have a Facebook account and love it.

One of the best things about Facebook is connecting with old friends. I do, however, draw the line at connecting with some old co-workers. Not all. But some.

Over the weekend I uploaded a lot of old photos onto my Facebook album page. What started as a project of archiving old photos onto disks for safe keeping, turned into uploaded photos onto Facebook to share with friends & family.

However, I'm confused about tagging.

If you're not up on Facebook Lingo 101, tagging is where you upload a photo and you can "label" people in the photo. Literally. When you roll your mouse of over the photo, the person's name pops up over their face so you know who people are. It's kind of neat really, especially if you don't remember who people are.

After you tag a person, they are then notified that they have been tagged in an album.

This is where it gets sketchy.
I have discovered that some people don't like to be tagged.

Don't get me wrong. I'm OK with not tagging someone in a photo. The last thing I want is to upset someone. Especially if they're being tagged in a photo circa 1988 with bad hair and acid washed jeans.

But I'm confused as to tagging etiquette. Specifically...if I tag someone in a Facebook photo, and they remove it, I wonder, "Why?"

Is it a privacy thing?
Is it a "I-don't-want-people-to-know-I-know-you" thing?
Is it a "I-don't-want-to-people-to-see-this" thing?

What is it?

Because lets face it. The photo isn't going away. It's on my page, in my album, for everyone I'm friends with to see. The photos I've uploaded aren't bad--meaning you won't get fired or investigated.

I don't care if people remove the tag I put on a photo. Like I said, I respect that choice and am in no way upset if someone takes it off . However, I actually feel bad then that I tagged someone if they then remove it because I feel like I did something "wrong".

Short of asking someone "Do you want to be tagged in future photos"--the question the table is: Do you tag people or not?

"Are You Kidding? It's Claire Huxtable!"
A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Amy in Ohio (who is another UND alumni. We're everywhere...). She said that she had been approached to blog about the Smart Talk series. In speaking with one of the coordinators of the series, Amy mentioned that she knew someone in Minnesota, where the Smart Talk series is also happening, and may want to blog about the event.

Amy asked me, "Would you want to blog about the Smart Talk series?"

I did a little more research on what my fun-filled evening would include on April 21st at Orchestra Hall.....

"The Smart Talk Lecture Series is a celebrity-based spoken word series. Smart Talk brings the most intriguing and influential women of the day face-to-face with audiences in an intimate theatrical setting. More often than not, the speaker reveals a private side not often seen in public, creating an emotional connection with the audience. Smart Talk shares the stories of incredible women who follow their own paths - undeterred by conventional thinking - to spectacular results empowering all those around her." (from the Smart Talk site)

I then looked to see who would be speaking. None other than Phylicia Rashad. Otherwise known as Claire Huxtable from the Cosby Show. I immediately wrote Amy and said "Of course I would love to do it!" I needed to be cool, calm and collected. After all, I'll be blogging for the series.

What was really running through my head, however, was "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? A NIGHT WITH MRS. HUXTABLE?!? MY BLOG READ BY PEOPLE OTHER THAN MY FRIENDS? WHAT?!?!" I was secretly squealing inside like I was at a New Kids on the Block concert at the age of 15.

Like I would know what that was like.

I am so excited to be able to see Phylicia Rashad and her her life story! The best part about this is that Smart Talk isn't just in Minneapolis! It quite possibly may be in a city near you. Stop by and visit their website to see if the series is coming to a town near you!

Oh. You know I'll have a report on the whole experience on Wednesday. I hope a photo or two will make its way to the blog as well.

Until then, enjoy one of my all time favorite Cosby Show moments....

Don't You Hate it When, Edition 2....
It's time for another round of "Don't You Hate it When...". If you didn't read the story the last time as to how this began, you can read about it here.

Here we go! Don't You Hate it When....

• You pack your lunch with cut up veggies. You put the veggies in a baggie. The veggies were wet when they went in the baggie. You then put the baggie o' veggies on an ice-pack--which you put in your lunch to keep everything cold. After sitting on the ice-pack for 5 hours, the water from the veggies freezes, causing your veggies to create a "clump". Clumped up veggies make it hard to eat hummus. By the way, I'm eating the veggies because I have eaten way too many Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs over the last few weeks.
• You realize you don't have a proper knife to cut your apple, so you use a plastic knife and end up cutting your finger. Yes. With a plastic knife.
• You set up an appointment to meet with one of your students and they don't show up? These are usually the same students who also fail classes and pull the "no one told me" excuse.
• You look at pictures that are just a little over a year old and you say, "Holy Cow! How come no one told me that I looked like THAT?" Which then causes you eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg. Or two.
• All of your toiletries run out at the same time: body wash, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc.
• Your family asks the proverbial question, during Easter dinner: "So. When are you going to have a baby?" This causes you to roll your eyes and eat another Reese's Peanut Butter Egg. Or five.

What about you? Anything happen over the last few weeks that made you say, "Don't you hate it when..."

Thanks, Captain Obvious....
Have you seen the Smart Car?

No?

Here's a photo (courtesy of the Smart Car website).....


Now, I live in Minnesota. You know, where it snows 9 months out of the year? This car makes no sense for Minnesota residents. While this may be great on gas mileage, I don't even want to know what it's like on icy roads.

Anyway, today in the news, it is determined that the Smart car performs poorly in crash tests.

Really?

You don't say?

I didn't need the crash test institute to tell me that! I could see it myself. There is nothing there to help prevent injury to the driver and passenger. If you drive this car and run into something, the engine will be in your lap! Here is a photo of the car, in a simulated crash, which I found on the Institute for Highway Safety website:

Like I said, I don't need a simulated crash test to tell me that this car isn't the best for me.

And I don't even want to know what the Big Guy would look like in that car.

Grab the Button, Promote the Auction!
This weekend I spent the better part of Saturday trying to figure out how in the world to make a blog button. I was determined to not have to pay someone to do it.

Why am I making a button, you ask?

For the Online Silent Auction we're hosting in June!

You can get the button by clicking HERE. It will take you to the auction site (while you're at it, be sure to bookmark the site so you can come back!) and you can grab the button to add it to your blog. If you're not sure how to add a button to your blog, let me know. I'm happy to help you out.

Here's a bigger photo of the button:

The original photo was taken at the 3-day closing ceremonies last year. As the survivors walk in, everyone raises a shoe in their honor.

Here's hoping that some day we never have to raise a shoe again!

Conversation with my Grandpa...

This is my grandpa (and me). This was taken last year at his 80th birthday party.

For the record, I have no idea who the kid is in the back. Knowing my luck, he's probably related to the "family friend" who asked me--at the same birthday party--if I was pregnant. Obviously she didn't get the memo that you just don't ask those kinds of questions to anyone larger than a size 6.

Moving on....

Earlier this week I sent my grandpa an e-mail. I said, "If you want to go to Easter service on Sunday, let me know. I'll come down and we can go together."

All week I got e-mails from my grandpa. However they were all jokes. As you can see, nothing has changed! So I called him last night on my way home from work. It went something like this:

Me: Grandpa, it’s Kelley
G: Yep
Me: What are you doing?
G: Nothing
Me: Did you get my e-mail about church on Sunday
G: Yeah

As you tell, he’s a big talker...

Me: So? Do you want to go or what?
G: Well, I have to check. It may be only sunrise service
Me: Oh. Yeah. I’m not coming down for sunrise service.
G: Why not? There’s a brunch after the service
Me: No. It’s too far to drive to be there at 6:30 a.m. I’d have to leave my house at 4:45!
G: Oh. Well, I’ll check and get back to you.

He then had to know, "...are you getting my e-mails?" I had to assure him that yes, I was getting his e-mails. I then asked him, "Who's Shirley?" because a lot of the forwarded e-mails are from a woman named Shirley. That's when grandpa let it out that he's met an acquaintance "over the e-mail".

In case you're wondering, "over the e-mail" means "over the internet".

He did say that they have yet to meet. I plan to get the full scoop on Easter Sunday.

How Do I Say This Delicately....
Every morning, I am out the door by 6:00 a.m. to drive to the park and ride. From there, I catch the bus that leaves around 6:30 a.m. to make it into downtown Minneapolis by 7:00 a.m.

Yes. I have an early day. Don't remind me.

My bus drops me off right outside my building around 7:10 a.m.. I, like most people, stumble my way into the Caribou Coffee which is in our building.

Oh Caribou. How I love thee.
Side note: if you like Caribou too, they will hopefully be donating to the Online Silent Auction again! Just sayin'....

This week, the escalator is down in our building--which means I need to take the elevator up one floor. I'd take the steps, but they are on the other side of the building (I swear!). This week, I have had the pleasure of riding in a small, cramped elevator with lots of business-type people, including a well dressed, beautiful woman who wears way too much perfume. I'm not kidding. It's so strong that I hold my breath when I'm on the elevator!

The worst part? It's powdery, old lady-stereotype perfume.

The other worst part? She follows me to Caribou and is always the person behind me.

Is it OK for me, a perfect stranger who spends no more than 2 minutes with her each day, to tell her, "Honey, you're beautiful--but tone down the atomizer a bit, will ya?" If it is OK...how in the world do I say it without being labeled a word that rhymes with witch or making it sound overly dramatic?

To be serious for a moment, I'm guessing that she falls into one of two categories. She either:

A. Has no idea it's too strong because she can no longer smell it
B. LOVES the smell so much that she wants to smell it every moment of her day

How do her co-workers feel? I wonder if her office has a "no strong perfumes/lotions" policy?

I guess I'll be making my way to the other side of the building to use the stairs until I can figure this out!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Before I forget....

The Daily Dean Chronicles is one of my new fave blogs to read and I was given an award.

SHUT UP! I love awards! Here it is....

Is it not the cutest thing you've ever seen? Who makes up these blog awards? Can I make a blog award or is there a blog award committee?

Regardless, thank you Mrs. Dean for this award. Back at ya' kid. : )

I'm Still Engaged....
The Big Guy got home yesterday afternoon. At 2:40 p.m. I got a call at work from him. It went something like this....

BG: Wow.
Me: What?
BG: Wow.
Me: I take it you've seen the Man Cave.
BG: Wow.
Me: I take it you like it?
BG: Wow.
Me: That's why Amy came down on Saturday.
BG: Oh LORD! You subjected Amy to this? I feel bad. Embarrassed really.
Me: No judging was involved. It's cool. I promise.
BG: Guess that means I have to take you out to dinner or something.
Me: That's right. Oh, and I found a $5 bill when I was cleaning. I kept it.
BG: You took my emergency $5 out of my hunting wallet?
Me: Yes. Call it fees for services rendered.

There were the "I love you's" and a bunch of "thank you's" as well. Which there should be! ha!

I was also thrilled that he was OK with the stuff I set aside as possible items for his sister's 3-day Walk Fundraising Garage Sale. So, J, you've got some good items coming your way!

Speaking of the 3-day, we are doing the online silent auction again the week of June 22nd. More to come, so stay tuned!

There Was a bit of Divine Intervention....
The Man Cave is clean. Whew.

Talking with Amy this weekend, she reminded me of guys that she knows who are just like this. We have determined that it's just mostly a guy thing. It's also nice to be reminded that I'll be dealing with this for the rest of my life.

But that's OK. Because I'll just wait until he's out of town to do it.

We've all seen the before photo. If you haven't, click here. And say a prayer.

I put Amy on the task of sorting CD's. After a trip to IKEA, I picked up two CD shelves. The Big Guy used to work at a radio station and has oodles of CD's. Each of these cases holds 180 CD's. Here's a photo of Amy sorting the CD's in alphabetical order. The debate from her project was do you alphabetize by first name or last name? Amy went with first name which is fine by me. If the Big Guy wants to change it....go for it.

But you know he won't.

Amy even wiped down every single one of those CD cases due to their dusty storage. That's a friend! Thanks Amy!

In going through the Big Guy's things, I made it a point to not judge my fella for what he had in his boxes and bags. But when I came across a blue duffel bag, I thought, "Oh, this is probably a bag of ammo" (the Big Guy goes hunting and target shooting on a regular basis).

Nope. Not even close. Here's a photo of what I found in the bag.

A sauce pan, a small tin, a Colorado Avalanche travel mug, and endless change (yes, there is a bullet in the photo, so I partially correct.). I told Amy that if the Big Guy is going to rob a bank, the next time he needs to focus on getting paper money, not the change.

Oh....come on...that was funny!

We also had a project of hanging a shelf. Now, at this point, the Big Guy never wanted to hang shelves due to the damage to the walls. We rent, so we can't go through and knock a bunch of holes in the wall. However, with a small space, bookcases that take up floor space isn't ideal, where shelves are. So I got a really awesome shelf at IKEA.

This shelf is heavy. We needed to at least anchor the screws at the very least if we couldn't find a stud. We tried our best to find a stud, but didn't have much luck....as this photo will demonstrate.




If this isn't Divine Intervention, I don't know what is. The holes made a cross! But after a run to the hardware store to purchase longer screws and a stud finder (knocking on the wall doesn't work, obviously) we were able to get the shelf secured into at least one stud. Thankfully we covered all the holes so the Big Guy won't notice.

But when all was said and done, here is how it all looks....


The CD shelves full of CD's....

Yes, those are CD's on the floor. They didn't all fit.

I also discovered some art work by the Big Guy's cousin that have been sitting in a padded envelope forever. Time to get those framed and on the wall.

Did you know that a 14 x 18 frame is cheaper if you buy the collage frames? Yes! It's true. Here is the art work....

Here is the self. Check out the hanging photos! This shelf was originally meant for a kitchen and you hang mugs on the hooks. I thought it would be cool to hang photos I found in the boxes and bins.

And lastly....the finished product.

I give it till Thursday.

I Might Be Single....
Shhhhh.

Don't tell the Big Guy.

I'm cleaning and organizing the Man Cave this weekend while he's out of town. Amy is totally helping me.

Here's a sneak peek:

I hope Amy doesn't bail on me now!

Updates on Monday....stay tuned.

Thankful Isn't Just For Thanksgiving....

A new blog that I'm now following is doing a blog party every Thursday called Thankful Thursday. It's a positive way to share what you're thankful for...because let's face it, in the world today, it's easy to lose sight of being thankful!

Here is what I'm thankful for so far this week...

• Meal planning: I can't say this enough. Without it, I'd still be starring at the cabinets looking for Monday nights dinner.
• DVR: Thursday is the last ER and if it means I get to see George Clooney again, I'm all for it. Really, though, ER is just good television.
• Good Deals: While shopping last weekend I got a handmade apple plaque for my kitchen for $10. I have apples in my kitchen and when I saw it I said, "I have to have this!" I'll post a photo soon...
• Creative Friends: Tracy helped me to come up with some creative projects and I can't tell you how much I appreciated it. I love having crafty friends.

While you reflect on what you're thankful for, visit the White's to read their story and what they are thankful for!