funny friday

A busy week at work. I'm only down 1/2 a pound this week, need to walk more, or drink less.(ya that's gonna happen!)
And on to our ff.......


I asked my wife to buy a case of Miller Light for $14.95. Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the cold cream. And then the fight started...

My wife asked me if a certain dress made her butt look big. I told her not as much as the dress she wore yesterday and then the fight started...

I asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?" It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation. "Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said. So I suggested, "How about the kitchen ?" And that's when the fight started...

My wife and I were watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?" "No," she answered. I then said, "Is that your final answer?" She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying "Yes." So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend." And that's when the fight started...

Have a great weekend!

Duh!

I was reading the news on the web this morning and ran across this little tid bit.
"As the world grapples with rising obesity, millions have turned to popular diets like Atkins, Zone and Ornish that tout the benefits of one nutrient over another.
Some previous studies have found that low carbohydrate diets like Atkins work better than a traditional low-fat diet. But the new research found that the key to losing weight boiled down to a basic rule — calories in, calories out."
you can read the whole article here.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,500565,00.html
Apparently when losing weight, it's not what kind of diet you chose, (Atkins, Weight Watchers, etc.) but calories in versus calories burned. Now I've been saying this for years! And I'll be the first one to tell you it's harder than it looks. We don't realize how many calories we consume in a day. Remember, I'm currently on a weight loss mission, and am doing good. Slow, but good. And it is basically watching calorie intake, and trying to burn more. And I'm getting close. Maybe a couple more weeks, I'll have that before, (ick!) and an after pic.

I passed my tests!

Yep! Made it through my physical, so I'm good for another year! Now these results compared to last years, are fairly close. This year my sugar and white cell count are normal, where last year they were just slightly off. But this year my bad Cholesterol is a bit high. But remember what we did through the holidays? And my over all Cholesterol is about the same as last year 228. It's a little high, but with my HDL so high and my Triglycerides good and my ratio good. I'm fine. And everything else is a-okay!

And we did a lot of walking yesterday. Trying to get back on track for our weight loss.

And now I'm off to work!

weekend update

Well, we finished puzzle #6. The white flowers were the hardest. I almost gave up on this one, but finally got it done.
Craig finished the taxes, and as usual we're getting a nice refund. But he had to mail them in. He couldn't e-file because of a couple of forms he needed to attach and the free e-file that comes with Turbo Tax doesn't allow for them. Figures! At least we don't 'need' the refund right away.
We were slackers as we didn't walk Thur, Fri, Sat, or Sun! I don't know what got into us, we were doing so good. It doesn't help it's still bitter cold winter out, and walking the Mall or big box stores is getting old fast. But we'll try to do better this week.
Today is my yearly physical, I should do well on all my blood tests. I'll let you know.
And Craig cooked our last Turkey we bought last Nov. when they so cheap! Instead of stuffing this one, he filled the cavity with Celery, Onions, and Oranges. Tasty! and I love leftovers!
We also booked our 8th mo-ho trip. This one will be at Bay City State Park in August. We like staying at State Parks because they're much cheaper than most privately owned campgrounds like KOA. But they do fill up faster, so we need to plan way ahead where we want to go. So now we have just 3 more weekend trips to book!
And that's my weekend update!

week update

This pic I took on the way to work yesterday morning. The sky was a brilliant reddish orange glow. The day ended with about 3 inches of snow. Yuk! So when I got home from work, had to clear the driveway once again. But just one more week of Feb. and then Mar. hopefully will be a little better.
We had another rather slow week at work, but I'm nearly booked for next week. And the weeks after that are also looking good.
If you remember from this post, I've been doing some winter cleaning in the Salon. I now am about 80% done cleaning the ceiling grid. It sure does get dusty!
We are also still working on puzzle #6. Another hard one. The bottom quarter is all white flowers. But we're progressing slow but sure.
On the losing weight post, both Craig and I are down 7 lbs. It's going slow, but it is going. I've also started working with weights again so that should help. I somehow injured a shoulder muscle way back in Nov. and have not been able to do much with weights. It takes a long time for tendons to heal.
Well, that's my update for today.

funny friday

Larry gets home late one night and,
Linda, his wife says, 'Where in the hell have you been?'
Larry replies, 'I was out getting a tattoo.'
'A tattoo?' she frowned. 'What kind of tattoo did you get?'
'I got a hundred dollar bill on my privates,' he said proudly.
'What the hell were you thinking?, she said, shaking her head in disgust.
'Why on earth would an accountant get a hundred dollar bill tattooed on his privates?'

'Well, one, I like to watch my money grow.
Two, once in a while I like to play with my money.
Three, I like how money feels in my hand.
And, lastly, instead of you going out shopping, you can stay right here at home and blow a hundred bucks anytime you want.'

It's Thursday

Sorry for the lack of posts, but it's winter here, I work, and life's a bit of a bore right now. I've started puzzle #6, another difficult one. And yesterday, had to eat dinner early, and no evening cocktails. This morning I'm having blood tests for my yearly physical. And no eating or drinking 12 hours before. I never had a 'family' doctor before, but every since I started on blood pressure meds, the doctor I see for those now wants a yearly physical. So a couple of months before my 'tests', I try to eat real good and exercise to have better results. I know, I shouldn't change my regular habits, for tests, but that's how I am. And besides, Craig and I are trying to lose a little weight, so it's a 2 fer reason. And as a reward for being so good, this weekend we're eating out! Ummmm Smokey Bones ribs sound good, don't they?

the end of an era

Good morning!

We're having a good weekend so far. Sunday was a lay low day for me. Craig spend a good deal of time doing bookwork, while I played pc games and surfed the Internet. Still looking to finalize our last 3 trips. Monday was productive. Craig did laundry, vacuuming and dinner, ( which ended up being that wonderful Cabagge roll cassorole he made here!) I spent a good part of the day taking out our Motorola Satellite receiver and adding a digital converter box for our big Toshiba 50 inch projection TV.
Back in 1989 since we didn't have cable where we live, we installed what you'd call, a big dish.

This sucker is 10 ft across! And it sits on the side of the back yard in one of the perennial beds. And we loved it! What was great about the big dish is unlike cable and the small dishes, we could get all our programing a la carte! Just order and pay for just the channels you want. No having to get a basic package and add premium channels. We could also get channels for just a set number of months, Like ESPN. We'd only subscribe for 6 months to watch college football and basketball. No sense paying for an entire year! But that era is coming to an end. As the big dish market shrinks as more people turn to cable and the small dishes, Programmer's are offering fewer and fewer channels due to cost. First we lost Discovery, than History, and ESPN. So we decided to not renew our subscription, and I've finally gotten around to taking the receiver out. I've seen on e-bay that I can probably get $200 for it. So now we have just our roof top antenna. But with the digital converter box, we get like 25 channels! And we don't really watch a lot of TV, so this works for now. We just can't justify getting a small dish for the price they charge for programming. I can't believe people pay so much to watch TV!

More snow pics

Yep! This is what you get, more snow pics! If your tired of looking at them, just think about me!
After our 5 day warm spell, winter hath returned! We got about 4 inches yesterday morning. But today is the 15th of Febuary, so winter is hopefully on the down side and spring will start coming in a few more weeks. The first pic is of a Contorted Filbert. I love how the branches are all twisty. Next is one of our Rhododendrons, and last Pachysandra buried under our Crab Apple tree. Yes it looks pretty, but I'm way done with looking at it. And once again, I had to clear the driveway when I got home from work. But now another weekend begins. Yay!
I cleaned the Salon this morning as usual. And today Craig's making a Pork Pot roast in our slow cooker. I love to smell food cooking all day!
Not sure what else we'll do.
We also still have 3 more weekend trips to finalize. Just haven't decided where to go yet. And Ken, no, we can't go to San Diego as much as we'd like to. I said all our trips are long weekends and I'm pretty sure we couldn't, make it out there and back in a weekend.

funny friday

A blonde was on vacation in the depths of Louisiana. She wanted a pair of genuine alligator shoes, but didn't want to pay the high prices.

After unsuccessfully haggling with of one of the shopkeepers, the blonde said, "Maybe I'll just go out and catch my own alligator, so I can get a pair of shoes at a reasonable price."

Later in the day, the shopkeeper spotted the young woman standing waist deep in the water, shotgun in hand.

She took aim at an alligator, killed it and hauled it onto the swamp bank.
Lying nearby were several more of the dead creatures.

The shopkeeper watched in amazement as the blonde flipped the alligator on its back and shouted in frustration, "Damn, this one isn't wearing any shoes either."

And don't forget your sweetie tomorrow! It's Valentines Day!

Have a great weekend!

winter cleaning

With business being on the slow side this time of year, I always take this opportunity to catch up on some extra cleaning. As you can see in this pic, our Salon has an open ceiling. We left the grid work in place to support the lighting, but there are no ceiling tiles in it. The space above the grid was painted black, including all the wiring, duct work, etc. The grid we painted purple, by hand, over a total period of 32 hours. The reason for the open ceiling is it gives our small Salon a more spacious feel to it, and helps to dissipate a lot of the fumes. (from perms and color)
Well, it tends to get dusty up there, as with any place, so once a year I get the ladder out and one by one, clean all the grid. I usually go in an hour early and do some each day over a 2 week period. I also have a telescoping duster that I use above the grid on all the duct work and plumbing.

I also use this extra time to clean out cabinets, throw out stuff that's been sitting around too long, clean out the fridge in the staff lounge, and things like that. Helps to keep our 12 year old Salon looking neat and fresh!

What a beautiful day!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day yesterday! We hit a record high of 61! The previous record was 53 set back in 1966. And don't tell me it's because global warming. We spent all of Dec. and Jan. with below normal temps. It was sooo nice we did our walking out
side! In a park! It felt soo good! And most of the snow is gone. Except for the hills at the end of the driveway. It's been nearly 3 months since I've seen grass! Gives us hope, spring will come. And here's me outside by our mo-ho. Can't wait for our first trip which is about 9 weeks away.
And while we basked in the warmth, Our friends John and Derek had a high of only 59 down in Quartzsite, Arizona. Go figure!
We have now had almost 2 weeks with no snow. And it looks to stay that way the rest of this week. And yes 'normal' temps are coming back at the end of the week, but this was a nice break that we really needed. We still have some winter to go.
Oh, and in just 3 days, we finished puzzle #5. But as you can see, it was a fairly easy one.
And for dinner, Panko Chicken, with Marinated broiled Asparagus, and Noodles Alfredo.

And, our Michigan State Spartans are now 20-4 after whipping lowly Michigan. Yay!
And now it's time to get ready for work.

Cooking with Craig

As promised, here's Craig's latest recipe. We get several cooking magazines at work, and he also has several online cooking sites he visits. Now this casserole has some very unusual ingredients.


I've never seen hard boiled eggs in a casserole. But I have to admit, this was one tasty dish!
Now, here's Craig's healthier version......
Whole wheat elbow macaroni,
Healthy Choice cream soups.
Skim milk,
8 oz. shredded Fat Free Cheddar Cheese

Now his version wasn't as thick and creamy as it should be, but it a ton less fat and calories. And really very good! We served it along with Marinated Grilled Asparagus.

You could make it thicker and still cut fat and calories by using 2% milk, and 2% cheese. But anyway, we enjoyed it and it made plenty for leftovers.

Puzzle update

We spent Sunday pretty low key. I cleaned the Salon, we did our morning walk, (this time at Menard's, and did not buy a thing!)and I pretty much played on the puter and worked on a puzzle. It got up to 46 yesterday. Snow is melting fast. It's suppose to be in the 50's the next 2 days. That should melt everything but the big piles at the end of the driveway. It'll be good to see the grass again. No snow forecast for at least a week!
Finished our 4th puzzle, and as you can see, it was our hardest!
Not only were the trees and the mountain very difficult because of so many similar colors, this brand of puzzle only comes with 2

different piece cuts. So a lot of pieces you think fit in a spot, actually don't. And so your constantly trying different pieces. But puzzle #5 will go very fast. Has lot's of different colors and different shaped pieces.
And for dinner Craig cooked a new casserole dish. It had some unusual ingredients. And I'll post that tomorrow in a Cooking with Craig post!

Oh, and we're back up to 2000 Coke Reward points! Haven't seen anything we want, but they add new items periodically, so thanks to everyone who's been e-mailing us them, and keep em coming!

ummmmmm pizza

Greetings from a very mild Mid Michigan. We are finally getting our January thaw. I know, it's Feb. 8th, but I'll take it when I can get it! And you know I mean warm weather. It started on Friday. Hit 34. Our first day above freezing in a long time. Yesterday, 52! Felt like spring! Did my walking outside! Felt sooo good! And it's suppose to be in the 40's for about 4 more days! The snow's already gone from the roof, and quickly shrinking in depth in the yard. We haven't seen bare ground since November, but should in the next couple of days. It's been rather slow at work. A lot of our customers winter in the south. Also I believe a number of customers have been extending the time between cuts. But Saturday was very busy, and so I did good for the week. But from what I've seen and people I've talked too, business is down pretty much all over. Here in west Lansing, we've had a number of stores close the past couple of months. Value City Department Store, Steve and Barry's, Old Navy, Peerless Furniture, Circuit City, and Red Cedar Grill. Not to mention quite a few of our customers who've been laid off from their jobs. It sure ain't looking pretty!
But for now, we're making enough to pay the bills with enough

extra for our summer camping trips.
So anyway, for dinner Friday, we had Chicken Kielbasa's, very good, and low fat! We served them on a bun with onions, ketchup, and fat free cheese. On Saturday, Craig made a pizza! Now you know, Craig doesn't like his pic taken, but after a few cocktails, he was more receptive! What makes this a better pizza health wise, is he uses 4% fat ground beef, and 2% Mozzarella cheese. He also adds mushrooms. We like our pizza's fairly basic.
And of course for the best crust, you have to use a pizza stone.

Doesn't it look tasty?
And yes, we ate the whole thing!
We'll have to walk extra long today!

funny friday

And here it is Friday again!
So on with our ff........

Some things I wonder about....

IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES, WHY DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS AND APES?
THE MAIN REASON THAT SANTA IS SO JOLLY IS BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE BAD GIRLS LIVE.
I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, 'WHERE'S THE SELF-HELP SECTION?' SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.
WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE an 'S' IN IT?
IF A DEAF PERSON SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?
IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?
IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?
and finally -
WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED 'HEMORRHOIDS' INSTEAD OF 'ASSTEROIDS'?

the weekend update

I know, it's Wednesday, but for my newer readers, we work Wed. thru Sat. and have Sun. Mon. and Tues. off. And your probably saying, what a good deal! And yes, we do like the 3 day weekend. But to make it work, we work 10-12 hrs on Wed. and Thur. and 8-10 hrs Fri. and Sat. So we still work about 40 hrs a week. But that's the nice thing about being self-employed, and having an established clientele, you can somewhat make your own hrs.

But anyway, our weekend was pretty uneventful. Too damn cold to do anything out side, so spent the

weekend indoors. Craig cooked, we ate. Craig made a brand new dish, Cabbage Roll Casserole on Sunday. The recipe is a couple of posts back. Had Pork Stir fry over noodles with a Hawaiian sauce on Mon. and on Tuesday, Turkey Burgers and Oven Fries. All very tasty! And, despite eating all this good food, for the month of Jan. we've both lost about 5 lbs! But we make the dishes low fat, and we're trying to burn more calories. So we're doing a lot of walking, and lot's of extra house cleaning. It's all about burning more calories than you consume!

We also worked on our 4th puzzle of the winter. This one is gonna take some time, but I like a challenge.

I also changed my truck insurance. I've had progressive for a number of years, and when I originally got it, I nearly cut my premium in half from the company I had before. Well, they say you should check around every few years, because company's are always changing their rates and I ended up going to Farm Bureau.

Their yearly rate was $519.00 compared with $648 at Progressive. Almost $130.00 less! So if you haven't checked lately, do so!

And now I'm off to work!

It's Monday

It's Monday, and I don't have to work! Okay, sorry for rubbing it in for those that do have to work, but remember I'm working Saturdays when your not!
But anyway, we had a very nice quiet day yesterday. Didn't do any 'work' but Craig made a new delicious dinner, (see previous post) and I started our 4th puzzle. I also booked a couple more mo-ho weekend trips. We now have 7 trips scheduled so far with another 4 more yet to decide.
Our 7 so far.....
Late April, Alum Creek State Park, near Columbus, Ohio.
Early May, Muskegon State Park.
Late May, Indiana Dunes State Park, near Michigan City, Indiana.
Late June, Mitchell State Park, near Cadillac, Michigan.
Early July, Maumee Bay State Park, near Toledo, Ohio.
Mid July, Interlochen State Park, near Traverse City, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Early August, Indiana Dunes State Park.
So, my fellow camping friends, any ideas for the rest of the season?

Cooking with Craig

Craig tried a new recipe yesterday and it was delicious!
If you like Cabbage Rolls, but not the tedious prep, Your gonna love this!

Cabbage Roll Casserole
2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans(15ounces each) tomato sauce divided
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups cooked rice
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 medium head cabbage (2 pounds) shredded
1 cup (4 ounces) mozzarella cheese
.

In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion
and garlic over medium heat until

meat is no longer pink, drain.

Stir in one can of tomato sauce and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir in the rice and bacon, heat through. Remove from heat.
Layer a third of the cabbage in a greased 13in. x 9in. x2 in. baking dish. Top with half of the meat mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cabbage. Pour remaining tomato sauce over the top.



Cover and bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
Uncover and sprinkle with cheese.Bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Okay, and now Craig's alterations to make it healthier.
We use extra lean ground beef, it's only 4% fat. Even leaner than Sirloin. It's expensive, (about $4 a lb) but we try to stock up on it

when it's on sale.
We used minced garlic instead of fresh, it's easier.
We used one 28 oz can of tomato sauce instead of two 15 oz,
cheaper.
Subsituted 4 oz. of tomato sauce with bloody mary mix, adds some zing to it!
We used brown rice, healthier.
We used bacon bits instead of real bacon, healthier and easier.
We used fat free mozzarella cheese, healthier.

So there you have it. One recipe, and two ways to make it.
And man, was it good!