When did the Old Lady Move In?

Heating pad.

Icy hot.

Advil.

When did the old lady move in and leave behind all this stuff for her achy muscles?

Oh, wait.

That's mine.

Who knew that deep cleaning a rented townhome would cause me to have to use all of these items on a Sunday afternoon?!  If this isn't a reminder to get thy rear end on the exercise bike we bought back in January, I don't know what is.

Farm Friday, edition 3…

Once I cross over a major highway out in the middle of nowhere, I love that I can see our place.
See that grove of trees?

Yes. That one.
That is where we are living!
I promise house photos when it isn't surrounded by a small lake due to melting snow.  

I love how that one pine tree towers over the big tree in my in-laws yard. 

But to be honest, what I am really looking forward to is all of this snow melting away and these big ol’ bushes to start blooming. Because you know what these bushes are? These bushes that boarder the property?

Lilacs.




COME ON SPRING!

I Care What You Think....


Does anyone else struggle with the fact that they care about what people think of them?


I was in a meeting yesterday and it felt like every idea I shared with those in attendance was shot down.  I felt like I was back in high school.  You've seen it....a kid who isn't popular, is forced to be in a small group with popular kids.  The not so popular kid gives an idea and everyone else says, "nah....".  


That was me yesterday.
I was basically told "thanks but no thanks."


Never mind that what we were talking about was an online learning environment.
An environment that I worked in EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. FOR. 4. YEARS.


Yet, I felt like that kid in high school.
Saying, "are you sure?" to have the cool kids say, "nah...."


Anyone else ever struggle with this?

Farm Friday, edition 2….
Looking out the kitchen window the other day, I never noticed how the old barn sort of looks like a pair of patchwork shorts from J Crew.

Remember these shorts from the early 90’s?

Photo found in Google images

Look at the barn….

OK. Maybe it’s just me....

Menu Planning Idea....


When the Big Guy and I moved in together, for the first two weeks or so we did the ever popular game of, "What do you want for dinner?"


Which is always followed by, "I don't know, what do you want" and "I don't care...just pick something."


After our long commutes to work, we didn't want to have that conversation any longer.  So, I started menu planning.  Really, it isn't rocket science.  I simply sit down with pen and paper and plan out what we'll have for dinner each day of the week.  We always have a night for "left overs" and I try to use my crockpot at least once in the week.


But what recently, I noticed that if I didn't post my little chicken scratch menu on the fridge, I'd end up getting a call at work from the Big Guy asking me if he needed to pull anything out or start something for dinner. 


I have tried to come up with things to use to make the task easier.  A calendar on the fridge?  A dry erase board?  I couldn't find anything I liked.  But then....last week while surfing the interwebs....I found an idea or this.  


Sadly, I can't remember the blog I found it on....so if you know the blogger who suggested it....please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!

Isn't that cool?


It's a picture frame! I took a fun sheet of craft paper & some letters for each day of the week.  I then put that behind the glass (like you would a photo) and now I can write on the glass what we'll have for dinner each night!  It sits on our counter, and there will now never be a question of "what's for dinner."


That is, of course, unless I forget to update the menu.
Or actually it will probably come up on Sunday because I forgot to write something down.


But besides that....what do you think?  

Farm Friday, edition 1….


One of my favorite bloggers is Big Mama. Every Friday, she does a “fashion Friday” post. While I don’t know zilch about fashion, even after my closet audit, I thought I’d steal her idea for a consistent Friday post. 

I’m calling mine… Farm Friday.
(I give it 4 weeks before I forget to post)

Now that I’m living out on a farm, I thought I’d share with you what I experience from week to week. After all, this city girl, living in the country, has comedy written all over it.

This week, I thought I’d show you what I’ve been dealing with since I first walked in the door.

Photo taken from this site: http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2007/3-26/asianladybeetle.html

 

Asian Beetles.


Here’s the deal. Like most creatures, we like to be warm. So, when winter hits, we find places to go that are warm. For some, it’s warmer climates like Arizona, Texas or Florida. For some, it’s in front of a fireplace. For Asian Beetles, it’s inside my house.

The crawled in during the fall and hunkered down for the winter. Now that we’ve moved in & turned up the heat, they’ve come out to enjoy the warmth.

Thankfully they don’t harm anything.
They don’t eat anything—so I won’t find them in my flour or anything.
They do pinch if they crawl on your arm or leg, but it is minor like a pin prick.

So, how do we get rid of them?

Well, I could bug bomb the place. But we have her….

And she’s worthless in keeping these things at bay. She will watch them crawl across the floor and then go right back to sleep.

Therefore, we’ve been fighting them with this….

My mother-in-law’s vacuum.
(Our vac is still at the old place because I still need to clean it and don’t want to haul a vacuum 60 miles, one way)
(image found from a google image search)

If they figure out a way to crawl out of the vacuum, I’m going to be pissed.