our camping schedule so far.

Good morning.
Not a whole lot of news to share, but work yesterday was nice and steady, and today is booked solid from 8:30 right through 6pm. The day should go by quickly. :-)
Tuesday, we finalized our trip to northern Illinois. We will be camping with our friends from Wisconsin, Tom and Dean, at the Chicago Northwest KOA. Right now that will be the farthest trip we'll take this year. And with the gas prices where they are, the rest will probably be much closer to home.
Right now we have 10 weekend trips booked, with the destinations being,
Holland State park,
Young State Park,
Ludington State Park,
Indiana Dunes State Park,
Maumee Bay State Park,
Fort Custer Recreation area,
Chicago Northwest KOA,
Hoffmaster State Park,
back to Indiana Dunes State Park,
and Elkhart, IN KOA.
So we have a nice selection of destinations so far.
Also on Tuesday, I finished our last puzzle.

It is now March, no more puzzles. I need the snow to melt and to get a little warmer so I can get out side. I'm starting to get withdrawals being cooped up inside all winter. This weekend isn't looking good, but maybe next weekend. :-)

And now, time to get ready for work.

comfort food

Good morning.
My late posting is due to me having to clean the driveway and salon sidewalk again. :-\
I'm sooo over this crap! I'm glad it's almost March! :-)
So yesterday, I did get the cleaning bug and did quite a bit of dusting and vacuuming.
I also played a new game called Settlers. So far it's holding my interest. :-)
We also started our last puzzle. I don't do puzzles after March starts because we should start getting some breaks in the weather where I can start early spring clean-up in the yard.
We also booked another camping weekend. That makes 9 so far, with the 10th and 11th decided, but to early to book.
And as promised, pics of Craig's newest, very tasty, new dish.
Ravioli Lasagna.....

Or the half that's left anyway. :-)
And an unusual pic of a smiling Craig!

And the dishes left for me.

But that's okay. It's well worth the clean-up for good food! And there's nothing better in the cold winter than comfort food!

blah, blah

Good morning.
As usual, I've just returned from cleaning the Salon. Also while I was there, I repaired a couple of cabinets that hang on the wall, over the sink, in the supply room. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed the top side of one of them was nearly 2 inches from the wall at the top. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the support brace along the top of the cabinet was bending. It was secure in the middle where I attached it to the wall, but it was bending out on the ends. It was a fairly easy fix. I got a section of 2x2 wood, cut it the length of the brace, pushed the cabinet back up so the brace was straight and attached the 2x2 along the brace. It can't bend now!
In other news.....
While I was down and out with the killer cold, we had a week of spring like weather. It got all the way up to 50. We've lost nearly all the snow we had. It was nice to see bare ground for a change. But it won't last long. As I write, another winter storm is fast approaching with a prediction of 6+inches of new snow. Hey, at least February is over half done!
And if you remember me fixing holes in the perimeter fencing, and putting out traps to catch rabbits, I didn't catch a one. There were no signs of them. Even if I don't get one in a trap, they'll eat the carrots I put around the outside. But they weren't touched either. They may have been coming into the yard to eat, then going back out to their nests. The new snowfall will show me if that's true.
And while recovering from my cold I finished another puzzle.

This one was sent to me by a blogger friend, Phillip. He thought it was a very challenging puzzle. I found it challenging, but fun because of it. Some of the puzzles I do are too easy. :-)

And it feels good to be back to 'normal'. :-)

we got lots of rabbits

Good morning, and a Happy Valentines Day!
It felt almost spring like with the temps rising near 40 yesterday.
After cleaning the Salon, I finished another puzzle while Craig got his beauty rest. :-)

This puzzle was given to me by a customer. Instead of a picture, this was a painting with really odd shaped pieces. But I enjoyed it.
I also got out and checked the perimeter. There were 4 holes in the fencing I patched.

Craig said it looked like they had wire cutters. I don't think they're that smart. ;-l

So I fixed the holes and set out some traps. They had already done a lot of damage. 4 bushes have already been eaten to the ground. They'll come back, but won't bloom, as they bloom on old wood. I should have gotten out sooner, but it was too cold. :-)
I then spent the rest of the day playing a game on the puter, and starting another puzzle.

Craig made a delicious meat loaf for dinner.

And this morning, I noticed the driveway is completely snow free. The first time since early December. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground, and I don't think it'll stay warm enough, long enough to melt all that. We'll see. :-)

I'm getting whose mail?

Good morning.
As you can see on the right, we are a crisp 1 out this morning. But if you also look, we are going to have a bit of a warm up.
Ummmm, 38 will feel like spring to us with the bitter cold we've endured so far this winter. :-)
Yesterday I replaced the thermostat at the Salon, and nothing seemed to change. It ran for a while taking it up a few degrees, but wouldn't take it to the temp I set. It finally did get up to 71 by mid afternoon. Someone suggested changing the air filter. It wasn't terrible, but I changed it and within an hour, we were at 73. I can't believe the filter could have had that much effect, but I'll see what happens this morning when I go in and turn it up from the night setting.
I also found a business card stuck in my door when I arrived home. Scribbled on the back was a note asking to call this person. Says his mail was being delivered to our address and he could pick it up. First, his business is no where near us, second, why would he think we were getting his mail, and third, why does he think we'd still have it if we were getting it? Which we haven't. In the past, if we accidentally got someone else's mail, I'd put it back in the box with a note on it.
So after I get to work this morning, I'll call and see what this thing is all about.
And I also finished the latest puzzle....

An early summer garden. I can't wait for my yard to look something like this! Maybe 3 more months. :-\
And now I've got to get ready for work! I need to go in a bit early to clean the floors....again....

lazy me

Good morning.
Another lazy day yesterday.
After I finished cleaning my puter, I spent most of the day playing games and working on the puzzle.
The game I just finished was called Drawn: The Painted Tower. I really enjoy puzzle games and this one had nice graphics also. I also downloaded the next one called Drawn: Dark Flight.

Here's a little preview if your interested.
I may start this one today. :-)
We've also been looking to fill our remaining camping slots. We've narrowed the choices and just need to decided for sure. We seem to have more places we want to go this year than slots to put them in. A nice problem to have. :-)
And for dinner, Craig made a new casserole, Southwestern Turkey Casserole.
It was very good, and very easy to make! And I love casseroles in the winter.
And that's all I got for now!

I got another bug

Good morning.
I'm doing this post from my lap top because my desktop puter got another bad bug and I'm currently cleaning it. :-/ At least it wasn't me that got the bug. :-)
Yesterday, we went to Kohls, and I got a couple of new shirts, and Craig got a couple pairs of pants.
Back home, I downloaded a new game, and a movie. That was when I got hit. It was one of those fake antivirus malware, and it was a bugger to get rid of. But it's gone and now to make sure I got everything, I'm running a series of security software.
I also managed to clean the bathroom, :-) and I started puzzle #4.
For dinner, we had slow cooked cranberry pork roast. It was delicious! We served it with real mashed potatoes and honey ginger carrots.
And we did watch the Super Bowl. It was really a good game, and I was happy to see Green Bay win.

Doctor update

Good afternoon.
Ya, I'm sneaking in a little afternoon post.
Went to the doctor this morning and tested negative for strep, but because of the large area of my neck and jaw affected, decided to play it safe and give me some antibiotics. Filled the prescription, and hope that helps. My throat is about the same right now as it's been the last 2 days.
We also stopped at the salon to get our appointment books. They're calling this storm a whopper!



We are under a blizzard warning from 5pm today, until 7pm tomorrow. Possible 10 inches of snow tonight, with another possible 4 tomorrow. If that wasn't enough, there will be a strong wind that may cause drifts 3-5 ft. They're talking like no one will be able to get out tomorrow. If that's the case, we need to be able to call our appointments. We can check our messages from home to see if they call and cancel also. So far, I have 1 cancellation and so does Craig. 2 of the other stylists are planning to take the day off too.
Craig has been very good at fixing tasty meals that I can get down my throat.
Tonight, it's Swiss steak with mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed broccoli.

I asked him to smile for the camera. Look at the expression? He hates having his pic taken. I tell him my readers like to see people in the pics sometimes. Oh well. :-)

And I managed to get the puzzle done in just 3 days! Of course it was easy when you don't do much of anything else. :-)

Those trees were a bitch to do! :-)

So, the snow has started to come down, and time will tell what the end result will be. They're even saying the snow/wind combo might take out some trees, and thus power lines. Hope not. Although we do have a motor home next to the garage, and it does have a generator. :-)

I'll give an update in the morning, if we have power. :-)

back to 80%

Good morning.
I continue to be on the mend. Saturday morning, I was maybe at 20%. Sunday, 50%. Today, I'm feeling 80%. There's still some swollen/tenderness in the neck, and still a little soreness in the throat, but the energy level has increased markedly. I just returned from cleaning the Salon. :-)
So with me being at low wattage yesterday, no physical exertions. So most of the day I sat and worked on the puzzle. I'm not much of a TV watcher.

I just started this one yesterday, and have it about half done. It's a 1000 piece puzzle. Of course I've done the easy parts first. Now comes the palm trees in the background. :-)
I had an omelet for breakfast that went down pretty good, and a bowl of cream of chicken soup for lunch that went down real good. Craig made Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner with noodles Alfredo and steamed zucchini with butter and Parmesan. My appetite had come back and I carefully ate it all.
And they say a strong winter storm is heading this way. 7-15 inches. Yuk! Maybe it'll miss us. :-)

a Big Bad BUG bit me!

Good morning.
It started Friday afternoon, after I returned from Sparrow Hospital. I had gone there to cut a customer who had fallen, broke her hip, and was not going home soon. She was actually being sent to a rehab facility that afternoon.
Anyway, after I got back to work, I felt a little scratchy spot in my throat. By that evening it had developed into a massive, swollen, sore throat. I felt miserable. I could hardly swallow through the pain. I took some meds and went to bed around 7pm. I awoke at 9pm drenched and freezing. I was running a fever, sweating profusely and freezing at the same time. Craig threw a couple of throws on top of the blankets. I lay there curled in a ball trying to stay warm. Around 1am I crawled out of the wet sheets and layed on top of the bedspread and under the throws. I tried sipping on water to stay hydrated but it was very painful to swallow. I got up around 5am, took some more meds, gargled with warm salt water, and curled up on the easy chair with the throws. I drifted in and out for the next couple of hours, getting up only to gargle with the salt water. Around 8am, I crawled to my customer files and called my 8:30 and 9:30 to cancel. I could barely speak, but they understood. Craig wanted me to wake him early so he could go in and cancel them for me. I couldn't see waking him up any sooner than he needed to. One of us should get a good nights rest. :-)
I snuggled up back on the chair and dozed off. Around 8:30, Craig comes out saying, "don't you have an 8:30?" I told him I called the first 2 so he could sleep. He took his shower, grabbed my files, and went off to work. He had to cancel the rest of the days appointments. I dozed off and on in the chair for most of the morning.
Around noon, I felt well enough to throw the sheets in the wash. Then layed back down. Around 1, I felt I should try and eat something, so I fixed a couple of scrambled eggs. I was able to carefully swallow them. My throat was still sore, but not near as sore as when I got up. I was dozing in the chair when Craig returned home around 3pm. He took my temp. It was 100.9. I felt exhausted and worn. I kept gargling and medicating. By dinner time, I managed to get down some Salisbury Hamburger Helper. The sauce and noodles made it easier, and my throat was doing a bit better.
I went to bed around 8pm, hoping I'd awake better. I had some night sweats off and on and at one point put a throw over the sheets so I'd have something dry to sleep on. I managed to get some sleep and when I awoke this morning, my neck is still quite swollen and tender, but my throat is feeling better to the point I can swallow pretty good. My temp this morning is back to normal. So I appear to be on the mend. :-)
I'm going to skip cleaning the Salon today, as I don't want to over do it to soon. Even though I'm feeling pretty good right now, It may be short lived. :-)
I'll go in early tomorrow. I hope to be back to normal by then.
I was so tired of laying around yesterday, that I did manage to work on the puzzle later in the afternoon, and finished it.
This one was fun to do. Lot's of different colors and textures.
Since I'll probably take it real easy today, I'll probably start the next one.
And I'm feeling a little hungry. That's a good sign, right?

Bing? or Google Earth?

Good morning.
Another bitter cold morning, but a slight warm-up is on the way.
Yesterday was a non-productive day. For me anyway. Craig did his usual bookwork and laundry, and even made a tasty turkey/rice casserole for dinner.
Me, I managed to finish the puzzle. :-)

But that was pretty much it.
I spent the rest of the day playing on the puter and catching up on my blogs. We did Bing some potential campgrounds. I find we're using Bing more than Google Earth. When you switch from angled to non-angle view, it's actually a different camera shot. So you can see with leaves and without for a lot of them. Now Google Earth street view is freakishly kinda cool. I was able to go right to my house. It's weird to think someone drove down the road taking pics of my house! But street view is mainly for cities, not rural areas.
We also watched the first episode of the second season of Spartacus. It was pretty good. Definitely not for kids!

Anyway, it was a nice do nothing sort of day. Those are nice now and then. :-)

tech tip # 32764

Good morning.

I've just returned from cleaning the Salon.
With flurries nearly every day, the Salon was a mess!
And as you can see, It was a frozen -7 out when I went. The car groaned, but started right up. It never did get very warm by time I got there.
But the forecast looks like we'll bet back to 'normal' temps by early in the week. At least normal for Lansing.
The week ended on a busy note. So a good week over all. Got home around 2:30pm, and relaxed with cocktails and the puzzle. It's over 3/4th done. Should finish today. :-)

And now I'll finish the post I was going to do last week and forgot.
Twice a year, I back up important stuff on my puter. Mainly my pics, and my favorites list.
I would be lost if my puter died and I didn't have all my favorite web sites and blogs saved.
You can save them to a disk or flash drive.

First, you have to go to windows explorer, and find the files to save.

So...

1. start,

2. all programs,

3. accessories,

4. windows explorer.
Now of course, I have windows xp. Other versions might be a little different.
After you open windows explorer, scroll to....

1. my computer,

2. local disk. Mine is C;

3. documents and settings,

4. me,

and there you'll see your 'favorite' folder.

Open your storage device, click and drag the folder to it to save.

Then do the same for your pics. I save mine in a folder under documents.

So follow the steps above to 'me', then click on the documents folder.Click and drag that to the storage device. Follow the same procedure for any other folders, and your stuff is no safe if your puter dies. :-)
And that's my tech tip of the day!

Now time for my shower.

How often do you clean your puter?

Good morning.
It's currently 34 out with a mixture of rain and sleet. Expecting to turn colder as the day progresses. Should make for some fun driving. I'm leaving the Kia in the garage. :-)
Yesterday, I did manage to clean the Salon. And after Craig got up, we did a little grocery shopping.
I was going to run the mo-ho generator, but with temps of only 22 and a stiff bitter cold easterly wind. I changed my mind. :-) Maybe today.
My main project for the day was computer maintenance. Regular readers will know that every January, I clean up the tower. Since I have an 'old' computer from 2002, I have a massive tower. And here's what it looked like when I opened it up.

See the front and rear vents? All plugged with dust!

I take the vacuum and suck the dust off the vents, then use canned air to blow out all the dust from inside. Then vacuum that all up. I do this once a year to keep it running cool. Over heating is the main cause for problems. As bad as the vents looked, I should probably do it twice a year, but in the summer, I don't think of indoor stuff. :-)

I couldn't do Craig's because I ran out of air. (you know I meant canned air right?)
So we'll pick that up today.

With all the year end bookwork done, that gives Craig a little down time, so we started our first puzzle of the winter.

And there's an RV show this coming weekend. Maybe I can talk Craig into going. Just to look of course. :-)

And for dinner, we had smoked pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and broiled asparagus.
And that's it for now!

puzzles and food

Good morning.
Another fairly lazy Sunday. I did manage to clean out some kitchen drawers, but not much else. Played games on the puter, and we did finish puzzle #7. This one was fairly easy and fun to do. Just 2 more puzzles, and it'll be spring! (we hope)
Also booked a couple of more camping trips. Cedar Point in August, (love the coasters!) and back to Holly State Park for the Michigan Renaissance Festival.

And Craig made a new dish, Turkey Tetrazzini casserole. He gave me the honor of putting it in the oven just so I couldn't take a pic of him.
I must admit, the guy knows how to cook! It was yummy! And plenty of leftover for the work week. And for the recipe, it's right here!

weekend update

Good morning. Back to my morning posting. It seems like most of the country is getting snow. Good for you! Now you can enjoy it with me! :-P
And if you haven't seen enough, here's some pretty icicles.


First off, for those who asked. I don't frame puzzles. I undo the puzzles when we're done, and box them back up. I take them to work and give them to staff or customers. Any left go to Goodwill.
Now back to my latest update.
We started the day yesterday with Craig's regular trip to the doctor. He has his blood checked every few months since he's on Zetia for his cholesterol. And guess what. He had his best readings ever! I mean, his over all cholesterol was 199. His triglycerides where normal. His bad cholesterol was near normal and his good cholesterol was normal. Now what makes this so odd, you need to know a little history. His cholesterol use to be in the low 300's. He tried Lipitor, and his liver enzymes went crazy. So he tried Zetia. That eventually brought his reading down into the low-mid 200's. He's been on this for 2 1/2 years now. So last year, to try and bring it lower, I got Craig moving. He's not one to exercise so I got him walking. We'd walk everyday, where ever we could. The mall big box stores, anywhere we could get 30 min. or more in. Tried meatless meals, very low fat diet, red wine, cholestoff. Nothing would get his reading lower than 225-250.

So this year, I gave up pushing him. We've not eaten real good. Haven't walked all winter, and now he has his lowest reading ever! So now Craig thinks it's all a big crap shoot. Now I'll never get him to exercise ever again.

In other news. My new monitor went berserk yesterday. I restarted it after I downloaded some updates, and when it came back on, when I opened my browser, and tried to scroll down the page, it just went jerking slowly to the bottom. Very annoying, so I opened up my graphics card console and attempted to fix it. Nothing worked. So I googled the problem. Found out with my old puter, I needed a new driver for my graphics card to work with this new fancy monitor. Downloaded the new driver, installed it, restarted my puter, and............................................................................................It works perfectly!

I also called and talked to Mom. She's doing as well as can be expected. They are doing therapy everyday for her right foot trying to make it strong enough to use until the fractured left foot heals enough to start therapy on. She doesn't think it'll help, but like she said, "I've got nothing better to do". So her spirits seem good. And Bruce and Louie are really taking good care of things. Thanks guys!

I then check the tire pressure on the truck because I know I have a slow leak in one of the tires. Well, both the front tires were down to 12 lbs. They should be 30. It's a good thing I don't drive on the highway with the truck. I then worked on the puzzle, and played A-Train on the puter.

Then it was turkey burgers for dinner, and another episode of Spartacus.

And now it's time to get ready for another work week.

Stay warm.

good food and good fun

Good afternoon.
Can you believe it? I'm doing another afternoon post. I just got busy this morning and didn't get one done. Anyway, it's been a lazy day today. I finished cleaning all the dishes from yesterdays delicious crock pot pot roast. And here's a pic before we served it.

It was so tender and juicy! And we barely had enough for leftovers. I really wanted to eat it all! And we finished puzzle #5. This was a fun puzzle. A little bit challenging, but fun.

We also looked into booking the Cheeseburger festival in August. The campgrounds nearby are already full! And the private campground nearby is requiring a 4 night stay. So we've decided to go to Van Buren State Park instead. Lots of nice small towns to explore nearby.
And we've started puzzle #6. And here's a pic of Craig playing Bejeweled twist. He is completely addicted to this game. He was so entrenched, he didn't notice me taking his pic. hehe.
So, that's about it for today. We're having stuffing and veggies with pork cutlets for dinner, and we'll will watch another episode of Spartacus. That's a really good movie!

I ain't pretty

Good morning,
I've just returned from cleaning the salon. I know, your tired of hearing this every week, and I'm tired of doing it every week. Life's a bitch.
Anyway, I thought I'd do a little post before I jump in the shower.
We finished puzzle #4. It was a bit of a challenge.

But I enjoy a challenge. Just 4 more puzzles to go and it'll be spring! I hope.
And here's one of the many reasons I need a shower.

Real bad bed head! Between the thin fine hair and an oily scalp, not pretty. Craig will get up looking just like he did when he went to bed. Life's not fair. Did I mention, life's a bitch? Now I did wear a hat to clean the Salon. Didn't want to cause any accidents. ;-)

And the 3 new staff members we have coming in use a different product line than us, so I spent a couple of days rearranging and eliminating some products to accommodate the new line which I ordered and will arrive early next week.

And our new security system is also due to arrive during the next week. And here's why we need it.

As you can see, this old monitor has such a bad picture, you can barely make out the front door. Can you see the front door? No? I told you so!
Today, it's house cleaning time. We have some out of town guests arriving later today, and I seem to only do an extensive cleaning when I have to. Am I the only one like that?
Well, it's time for my shower.

Monday post

Good morning.
We're back to normal temps this week. Currently 23 out with a high expected of 31.
We didn't get a security system at Sam's yesterday. They only had 2 on display and we didn't like either one. I looked on line when we got home, and I think we'll order one. It doesn't come with a monitor, but we can pick one up fairly cheap.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning the bathroom, and dusting, then worked on the puzzle. Craig made a tasty stir fry for dinner, and we watch our Monday night comedies. Two and a half Men, How I met your Mother, and the Big Bang Theory. These are some great shows.

That's all I got this morning, so later!

I'm so pretty

Good morning. Here's the special little treat I promised.
I was over at Jim and Garrets, and he's been watching RuPauls reality show where aspiring female impersonators compete for the top prize. Well, they have a web site where you can upload a face pic and create yourself in drag. Garret did it and it was frightful! So I thought it would be fun to do Craig and myself. I tend to like these sort of things since I have already done us as Christmas elves, and South Park-ed us, so here's the results........
If you can't tell, Craig is above, and I'm below......

And is it just me, or does Craig look like Katie Couric with dark hair? hmmmm. And get ready.....here's the face shots....

It was fun! And a little weird seeing me like that.

And if you want to try it yourself, here's the web site. www./dragulator.com
And in other news, As cold as it's been, (currently 10 out) we have just a dusting of snow. Yesterday was a fairly easy day. I did some spot cleaning on the carpet while Craig did bookwork and laundry, and we started puzzle #4. And for dinner Craig made this wonderful ham and scalloped potatoes and we had that with fried cabbage on the side. really good!

Today we're looking at security monitors, and we need to make some more keys for the new staff that's joining us.

Have a good day.

Sunday post.

Good morning.
We are at 15 out right now going for a high of 24. We missed all the snow from the latest storm. It went to the south of us. It usually happens like this when we experience extreme cold weather. I'm a little later posting than usual because I did a super cleaning job at work this morning. Spent over 2 1/2 hours instead of my usual 1 1/2. Did a bunch of extra stuff I don't do every week.
We currently have 3 new stylist that have signed leases and will be starting in 1 -2 weeks. That will give us a full staff. The first time in 13 years. We've never had all 7 stations rented. The most was 6 when we first opened. It will be nice making some extra money. We have some repairs we need to do.

This is what I saw on the way to work yesterday, a full moon. The sky was just starting to show some light. I still haven't figured how to take pics in the dark. But it was beautiful.
We also finished up our 3rd puzzle on Friday. This one was a little harder with all those flowers and leaves the same colors.

And for dinner yesterday, we had home made tacos. They were yummy! We also watched Hangover again. And our Michigan State Spartans basket ball team is now 9-0 in the Big Ten and ranked 5th nationally. They've been fun to watch.

So it's now 9am. I think it's time to wake up lazy bones.

And I have a fun little thing to show you tomorrow.