another busy week.

Good morning.
It's been a very busy week in the Salon. Quite unusual for this time of year.
We finally got our new front door at the Salon installed and it's very nice. Cost was $719.00 not including labor that fortunately was picked up by the landlord.
Weather has been not too bad, at least no snow this week.
Tomorrow morning I have a house call to do. A customer's father (92 years old) has recently been released from the hospital and desperately needs a haircut. And she desperately  needs a cut and color, and she's unable to bring him to the Salon. So I'll be going to her home at 9am tomorrow, and then when done there, back to the Salon to finish a busy Saturday.
 I was fortunate to be able to squeeze in a haircut for myself Thursday morning, and to color Craig's hair. We don't often have the same time open to do that.
And thanks to the new Coke Rewards site,

I've recently been able to redeem points for a $25 Home Depot gift card and $30 in Walmart gift cards. They will come in handy when we go to Vegas. You know how I love free!
Now, I'm off for my last work day before a nice weekend.

really good pork chops!

Good morning.
It was a nice weekend. Weather, not so nice, but it is winter.  :-)
I did more work on the inside of the house. Just about ready to repaint everything.
Craig made a new dish I found, Crock-pot pork chops and was it good!

So easy and tasty! you'll find the super easy recipe here.
We pared it with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots with dill.

I've recently discovered the joy of roasting veggies compared to boiling or steaming them. Much better flavor!
Toss the veggies with olive oil and some favorite seasonings, spread them out on a baking sheet, and bake at 400 for 30-60 minutes depending on veggie and size. Just Google what you want to roast. They are OMG good!
Now, back to work for what looks like another busy week!

yummy pizza

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon.
It was a very busy week in the Salon, and I'm happy for the weekend.   :-)
For dinner Saturday evening, Craig made pizza.

Roasted green peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, extra lean ground beef, and 2% mozzarella cheese. Yummy!
And you won't believe this......
The first house we put an offer on way back last April in Las Vegas has just been reduced again, to $154,000. We offered $149,000 and it took 6 months of waiting before the agent Fannie Mae assigned the the case decided the appraised value of $180,000 was closer to what the house was worth. We had offered $155,000 as our final offer, and that was rejected by Fannie Mae. So then we found the house we ended up buying, and the first house was re-listed  for $180,000, only to drop 2 months later to $175, 000 and then to $165,000, and last week to $154,000. I feel sorry for the poor people trying to sell it. It's now been for sale for over 1 1/2 years.
Obviously, we were meant to have the house we ended up buying, and we're very happy with it.
Now it's our weekend, and I'm going to tackle reducing stuff in the laundry/panty room. I'm loving downsizing!

another weekend over.

Good morning.
It was a nice weekend, although I didn't get much done.  :-)
I did place an online order for work supplies, and I also bought some new trimmers.

A Forfex Babyliss cordless. We use these smaller trimmers for cleaning the neckline and around the ears. Also for tapering the edges.
I've also reorganized the kitchen, getting rid of odd pans and such we hardly ever use.
I'm trying to get the kitchen looking very clean and as spacious as possible. That being said, I've been taking everything off the counter and storing it out of sight.
First off, was the coffee maker. We use it a lot, so that would be a good test to see if we could live like that. And, it was just fine. Really no hassle at all getting it out and then putting it away. I think it helps making sure the storage spot is easily accessible. So after living with that for a few weeks, I worked on the rest. I removed the toaster over, the toaster, hot plates, utensil caddy and the spoon rest.

Now nothing on the counter and I like it!
Now, I can't wait for my spring yard sale to get rid of all the stuff I've got piling up in the one bedroom and garage. I'm really liking this downsizing.
Now, I'm off to work. It snowed yesterday, so I'm sure I'll need to damp mop before my first customer at 8:30.

computer back-up and maintenance time

Good afternoon.
Well, it's January, so it must be computer back-up and maintenance time.
I do this every January, and so should you! It doesn't take more than an hour for everything.
First, back up all your files and favorite pages to a DVD disk  or flash drive. I have Firefox, so my favorite pages are called bookmarks. I save a list of the websites to a HTML document, and add that to the disk with all the pics and files I don't want to lose if my puter dies.
With that done, I turn off the puter, unplug it, and remove the cover...
There are usually 2-3 screws holding the cover on on the back.

Then the cover slides easily off and you can use canned air to blow out all the dust.

Here's my puter all cleaned out.
Then on to Craig's....

See how clogged full of dust it is behind the fan? I knew his was bad as his tower was very warm to the touch. For some odd reason, much worst than mine. It was running hot due to very little ventilation on the mother board. That could lead to hardware failure and a dead puter.

 Now here it is all cleaned out. I put the cover back on, plugged it in, turned it on, and now it runs cool to the touch. A disaster avoided.  :-)

And an interesting observation. I have a green mother board and Craig's is blue.

In other news.......

It was a busy week in the Salon. it was nice I didn't have to go in every day to clean floors as it was a dry week for a change.   :-)

The maintenance guys came Saturday to replace the front door. After a couple of hours of difficulty, it was decided that they needed to order a different door.  :-/

We've finally had a couple of days above freezing as temps yesterday hit near 40, and today has been near 37.  All the snow on the roof has melted, so I won't have to worry about ice dams for awhile.  :-)

That's it for now.

winter's icy grip still

Good morning.
It's a cold one this morning with a temp of -11. brrrrrrrr
While Craig made good progress on the end of year paperwork, I immersed my self in the house.
I cleaned, dusted, and organized more closets and drawers. Just when I think I've got pretty much everything looking good, I find more areas with more 'stuff''. I'm glad I've got such a small house. I can't imagine what I would have accumulated in a larger one, or how long it would take to sort, throw out, sell, and then pack when we are finally ready to move. Glad I started way early!
I've had to clean the driveway twice this past weekend as several inches of snow came down almost daily. But the rest of the week looks dry.
And now I'm off to work for what looks to be fairly busy.

winter's icy grip

Good morning.
It appears the bitter cold is lessening it's grip as temps the next couple of days reach into the mid 20's.   :-\
Here's a couple of pics of the massive 193 car/truck pile-up that happened last Friday morning on Interstate 94.

193! There were white out conditions and black ice. Amazingly only one person was killed.

They brought in large portable lights as they worked through the night trying to clean up and reopen the highway. Both lanes were finally opened this morning. Two days later.
This was one of three weather related pileups across the state that morning, with a 50 car pile up over on the west side of the state on US 31, and a 40 car pile up on the east side on US 23.
People driving to fast for the road conditions.
In other news.....
Work was steady this week. I had to go in early every day to clean floors as we kept getting a little snow each day.
I've also received a letter informing me it's time for a Colonoscopy. Has it been 5 years already?
Since my dad died of colon cancer, I'm suppose to get checked every 5 years. I've had 3 of them so far. Fun times.
That's all I've got for now.

Could it get any colder?

Good morning.
 Looks like we're in for a deep freeze, as the next few days stay only in the single digits.  :-(

And people wonder why I want to move to Vegas.
It's going to be low 60's there this week....and sunny!
Look at Lansing's forecast above. The next chance for sun isn't until Saturday!
Anyway, I've got a lot inside to keep me busy this winter.
Also, I've cashed in more Coke Reward points for a $25 gift card to Home Depot.

That will come in handy next time we go to Vegas.
And Craig has been making a list of things he wants me to accomplish on that 5 day trip.
I just can't wait to go and get a break from this weather.  :-)
But now it's back to work. Looking a little slow this week, but that's normal for this time of year.

damn it's cold!

Good afternoon.
Well winter has gripped us in it's icy blast....

It's the coldest it's been this winter so far, and I'm not liking it!   :-)
We also watched another movie, called Zombeavers.....

A really bad  B movie that we couldn't stop watching.  :-)
In other news.......
I called the handyman out in Vegas about progress to our house. He did get the new shower doors installed in the master bath, but completely forgot about the ice maker turn off valve. Promised to get right on that.
I also called the landscape company to find out why they hadn't been to the house and discovered he forgot all about us and never got it on their schedule.   :-/
It pays to check up on people.
Our neighbor in Vegas e-mailed me this pic.....

 This is at the casino hotel in front of our community. You'll have to click on the pic to see it says.....Craig Wayne Boyd. She thought we might find it fun, having both our names listed. I don't know why this Boyd guy gets a larger listing than us.  :-)
I did manage to get all the Christmas decorations down and put away, and I've started to do a bunch of wall patching and sanding in preparation for painting later this winter. I've got 30 years of looking the other way on home maintenance I need to address.
And that's it for now.

A good start to the new year

Good morning.
And a happy 2015 start.
We had a nice day off with snacks all day and  a Michigan State Spartan Cotton Bowl Win! 

And if that wasn't good enough, the only 2 teams that beat us this year, also won, Oregon and Ohio State, who will now play for the national championship. 
Thursday morning while Craig slept in, I went into the Salon and took down the Christmas decorations. Will probably wait until this weekend to take them down in the house since I have to work Friday and Saturday.
Also watched another fun movie called Dr Cabbie...

Compared to November, weather in December was fairly mild. Hope that goes through the rest of the winter. Of course, now that we have a house in Vegas, they've had a very cold Dec. Go figure.
And have you seen the gas prices lately? Your welcome. As soon as we bought the motor home back in 2005, they started rising. As soon as we sold our motor home this past October, they started dropping. A coincidence? Maybe....
 I know we used a lot of gas with an average of 10 trips a year over the last 9 years, but I find it hard to believe our gas use kept the prices so high. Or did it? Anyway, again, your welcome.   :-)
Now, unlike probably a lot of people, I'm off to work.