road trip

Good morning.
The picture says it all. We're under a winter storm warning for the next couple of days. Rain, freezing rain, and snow. We should be in the upper 40's, and we'll only be in the mid 30's. Yuk!
So you southern bloogers, keep sending me your spring pics to help me through. :-)
Spring will eventually come to Michigan....it will.
Yesterday wasn't as nice as forecast. No sun, and windy, but we had planned to go to Muskegon to see my Mom, so the weather didn't really matter.
Had a nice visit. Cut her hair, took her to lunch at Applebee's where she had boneless chicken wings, Craig had a quesadilla, and I had a ribblet platter. Good food! Then to the 'club' for drinks and pull-tabs. No luck with pull-tabs this time. But it was good to see her, and we got there and back safely.
So today will be our usual Monday stuff. Banking, shopping, and back home before the weather turns bad this afternoon.

patience

Good morning.
Yesterday turned out to be very productive. I got bitten by the cleaning bug good. :-)
I vacumed, dusted, washed the kitchen cuboards, and srubbed the kitchen floor. You'd think as nice as it looks when it's clean, I'd do it more often. :-) But I don't.....
And, we still have snow on the ground. It's suppose to rain today with a high near 40. That should get rid of most of it. But then, as it gets colder tonight and tomorrow, it's suppose to turn back to snow. :-(
I know, patience. The temps have actually been close to normal for this time of year, but I was hoping for an early spring.......
Other then cleaning, I played on the puter.
Craig made a tasty dish for dinner. He cut up a couple of chicken breasts and pan fried them with shredded cabbage. It was kind of like chicken helper, but with cabbage instead of noodles or rice. Very tasty!
And now it's back to work. The week is looking so-so. We'll see how the phones ring this week. :-)

long winter

Good morning.
Both Craig and I were in a sour mood yesterday. This long winter has really gotten to us. :-( It's only 12 out this morning and still nearly a foot of snow on the ground.
So today, we're going on a little road trip. Just to get out of the house and do something different.
We need a break in our boring winter routine. :-)
I did manage to clean the bathroom yesterday from top to bottom, while Craig did his usual laundry and bookwork.
And, we've been sorting through stuff to get rid of. I decided that since I'm not having a plant sale this year, I'll have a yard sale. We've accumulated stuff we don't use or need, and they're not worth enough to bother with E-bay.
And for dinner, Craig made his tasty Cabbage Roll Casserole, and we watched a few more episodes of Hot in Cleveland.
Now, it's time for my shower and to wake up lazy bones. :-)

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!

winter's back

Good morning.
Well, yesterday morning started out looking a bit like spring, but then this came...

And by this morning, it looked like this....

Yes, it was still dark out at 6am when I went out to clear the driveway. Looked like about 6-8 inches fell. It was over a foot thick at the end of the driveway where the plows had gone by.

Once I got that done, I went in to the salon to see what was needed there. The main roads are pretty good, but all the side roads are a mess. It appeared the sidewalks at the salon had been cleaned sometime during the night, and had about 2 inches back on them, so I got that cleared off and threw some salt on it.

Here's the drive and the car cleared of snow.Yesterday, with the most energy I've had in a week, I got in a cleaning mood and did quite a bit. I still had plenty of time to play on the puter, place a supply order for the Salon, and book another RV weekend. We've got 8 booked as of right now. Out of the weekends left, I still want to go to the Elkhart, Indiana area. I'd like to take a tour of the Newmar factory in nearby Nappanee. I think it would be neat to see where our mo-ho was born. :-)

And dinner was simple to, ham steaks with mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed cauliflower. Today Craig wants to try a new dish, Ravioli Lasagna. If it turns out, pics and the recipe tomorrow. :-)

ps......

I didn't notice until just now, that I missed my blog's anniversary, which was back on January 24th. Must mean I've been doing it so long, I don't even think about it anymore. This is the start of year 6 with blogger! 1030 posts!

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....

It's toooo c-o-l-d!

Good morning from a frigid Lansing.
It's currently 12 outside. brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! This has been one cold month!
But at least we didn't get the nearly 20 inches of snow Minnesota got. We ended up with about 6 inches. Here's some pics I took out the window in the afternoon...

I did go out around 4 when the snow let up to snow blow (I know, it really should be snow throw) the driveway. I'll have to do it again today, but will be easier with less snow.

I also ordered some cologne from FragranceNet.com. I wear Obsession and it's $47.19, where it's $65 at Macy's. And if you sign up for their e-mail offers, you can get 15% off that, or free shipping. That's a pretty good deal!

I spent the rest of the day reading blogs and playing on the puter.

Craig made his delicious turkey rice casserole for dinner. It hit the spot!
Maybe today I'll be more motivated to do some cleaning. We'll see. :-)

Yep! Snow.

Good morning from a c-o-l-d Lansing, MI.
This pic was taken Wednesday morning as I was leaving for work.

Winter seems to have settled here for good. The long term forecast is for a high around 30 with the lows around 20 and scattered flurries off and on.
Looks like John and Derek left the mid-west just in time. Although they left the bitter cold, they'll be dealing with cool relentless rain, as while their winters aren't as cold, they do get a lot of precipitation.
The last two days at the Salon have been fairly busy, and today and tomorrow look to be the same.
This evening we have a cocktail party to attend. One of our customers belongs to a local law firm that has an early evening cocktail party at a place called Harem. It's described as an urban Lounge. It's very big city like. Free food and drinks! Should be fun.

a snowy but we're nice and warm in mid Michigan

Good morning from a snowy Lansing.

We currently have about 6 -8 inches on the ground right now. Got another 1-2 inches yesterday, so had to go out and clear the drive again. This is a picture out our driveway looking across the street. We have a golf course across the street.
I didn't do much else yesterday. Was going to, but somehow managed not to. hehe. I did do some more research on summer travel ideas, and did book a trip to Indiana Dunes this summer. Meeting up with our camping friends from Wisconsin, Tom and Dean.
I also finally got my first full month energy bill since we put in our new furnace.
For the month of Dec. our gas usage was 9.2 MCF.
For Dec of 2008 we used 15.0 MCF.
That's quite the reduction! But wait! 2008 was an extremely cold winter so what about 2007?
For Dec 2007 we used 12.0 MCF.
So still nearly a 25% reduction due to a 94% energy efficient furnace! yeah!
And I did do some more caulking and sealing, so that probably helped some too.
Craig was concerned because the furnace was running a lot compared to the old one. But this one is different. When you set the thermostat at 72, the temp stays at 72. The old one wouldn't turn on until the temp dropped to 71, and would run until it reached 73. So your getting a cooler period and a warmer period. This one runs more often, but not as long each time. Also this furnace has a low fan speed and a high fan speed. It only uses low fan to maintain the temp, but will use high fan like when we first get home from work and crank the heat up from 64 back to 72.

So we're pretty happy with the furnace.

And for dinner, Craig made a variation of his beef stir fry. Yummy!

food and fun

Reason number 763 why I hate winter. Salt! No, not the kind you put on your fries, the kind you put on the sidewalk. And then it gets tracked into my Salon. Leaves nasty white stains all over the floor as you can see in these before and after pics.

So that means going in extra early and moping the floors before we open, every day it snows. And it's always a long winter.
Now there is a non tracking ice remover. We use it at home. But our cheap landlord at the strip mall I'm in certainly won't. Oh well.

On Saturday, after work, Craig made his tasty home made pizza. Yesterday, was kinda low key. I did some cleaning, touched up some painting, and mostly played on the puter. Craig did laundry, book work, and made a turkey rice casserole. Enough so we'll have leftovers during the work week. And we finished the evening with cocktails, and movies.

Ya, we have a real exciting life, don't we?

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.

boring

It's Saturday, it's 12 degrees out this morning. Yesterday, after work, I walked the mall again. (boy that's boring!) But the weight is coming off. Slow, but off. And that's good, because it'll be easier to keep it off. And then when I got home, I had to snow blow the driveway again. I swear, the piles of snow at the end of the driveway are the biggest in probably the 22 years we've lived here! And for supper, Craig made a tasty dish of Hamburger Helper.

I know, your gonna say, Hamburger Helper? But Craig's such a good cook? Well, he is, on our days off. But after working all day, the last thing we want to do is 'prepare' a meal, so that means Wednesday and Thursday, we have leftovers from the previous week, and Friday and Saturday nights, we have something simple. But he did alter it a bit. He added Mushrooms and Onions when he cooked it, and garnished with Tomatoes, so to add a bit more nutrition. And he used Lean Hot Italian Sausage, instead of Ground Beef. Tonight, we are having Chicken Cordon Bleu, Noodles Alfredo, (with light Alfredo Sauce) And Parmesan Zucchini. I know, we tend to eat this dish a lot, but it's easy, and tasty.

Well, time to get ready for work. Later!

funny friday

Here's a pic of part of the back yard. Look how high the snow is on the bench and turned over bird baths! This is one of the snowiest winters we've had in a long time! But this is half the snow Grand Rapids has gotten which is 50 miles west of Lansing, and only 50 miles from Lake Michigan. My Mom, who lives in Muskegon, right on Lake Michigan, has 3 times the snow we have here! They get what's called 'lake effect' snow. The air coming across the lake, pics up moisture, and dumps it when it crosses land.
But anyway, on to our ff.........

A nun, badly needing to use to the restroom, walked into a local Hooters.

The place was hopping with music and loud conversation, and every once in a while the lights would turn off. Each time the lights would go out, the place would erupt into cheers.

However, when the revelers saw the nun, the room went dead silent.

She walked up to the bartender, and asked, 'May I please use the restroom?'

The bartender replied, 'OK, but I should warn you that there is a statue of a naked man in there wearing only a fig leaf.'

'Well, in that case I'll just look the other way,' said the nun.

So the bartender showed the nun to the back of the restaurant.

After a few minutes, she came back out, and the whole place stopped just long enough to give the nun a loud round of applause.

She went to the bartender and said, 'Sir, I don't understand. Why did they applaud for me just because I went to the restroom?'

'Well, now they know you're one of us,' said the bartender.

'But, I still don't understand,' said the puzzled nun.

'You see,' laughed the bartender, 'every time someone lifts the fig leaf on that statue, the lights go out!

Have a great weekend!

oh, and can you believe it! this is my 500th post! WOW!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, it's cold!
It's currently 6 below zero out. That's right, a -6 degrees!

And I had a long day at work yesterday, and another one today.

But in good news, our Michigan State Spartans beat Penn State, and are currently 10th in the national standings, at 14-2!

Gooooooooooooo S T A T E !

And we just got our Dec. gas bill, OUCH! They said it would be higher this winter due to the utilities having to buy such expensive fuel last summer when prices were sooo high.

Well, now I'm off to work! And here's another lovely winter scene for all those people who miss this crap our beautiful winters.

winter

Here are a few pics of winter in Mid Michigan. I know all my southern readers are going to say, 'I'm soooo glad we don't live there!'

We've had way more snow then we normally get.

On the upside, the 'bug' got me again! I was a cleaning fool! Besides the Salon, I cleared the driveway, and cleaned all the kitchen cabinets. Craig vacuumed the whole house. And then he made a wonderful Chili! He refused to let me take any pics.

Said we already did that, so all I've got is a link to our last Chili bowls .

So when you think it's too dry, or too rainy, or not very warm. Just look at these pics and be happy your not here!

Where does it go

Here it is the last day of 2008. Does time fly or what?
But first, a recap on our weekend.
Yesterday Craig did some end of year stuff.
Paid the last retail commissions for the year, and added up our business gas mileage for reimbursement. And between paperwork and laundry,
he boiled down the last two Turkey carcases for broth.
And also any left over veggies from the last couple of months. He ends up with this wonderful thick tasty broth. We don't make
soup out of it since we're not much of soup eaters, so he freezes it in pint containers for later use. He'll use the broth to make rice,
mashed potatoes, and pasta, substituting

broth for water. Very yummy! I did a little cleaning around the house,and played on the puter. For dinner

we had Panko Crusted Pork Cutlets,

with Fried Potatoes, and Sauteed Ginger

Honey Carrots. I don't know why I

didn't get a pic of the pork.

But back to 2008.

It's true when the say the older you get

the faster the time flys.

We've been in this Salon now for 11 years.

It seemed like we owned the last

one forever, and that was only 12 years.

We've been in our house now 23 years.

And together for 32 years.

And where did it all go?

And it seemed like yesterday, we were

waiting for 2000 and everything to grind to a halt. That was the biggest non event ever.

But I have to say I'm very grateful for my health, Craig, and everything we have. It's been a tough year, but we've weathered it fairly well. And much better than a lot of others.

I'm hoping everyone who has stopped by in our lives and on this blog, have a safe New Years Eve, and a happy prosperous 2009.

And now I need to clear the driveway of more snow, and get to work!

YUK!

Here I am snow blowing the driveway. You can see from the pics how much snow we've gotten already this year. I think I've used the snowblower more this year then all of last year! And it's only December!

Craig took these pics from the kitchen window in the comfort of the house.

And it's still snowing, so I'll have to do this again after work tomorrow.

It's gonna be a l-o-n-g winter.

Maybe I'll run away and go to Palm Springs.

Tuesday

Made it to Muskegon and back. Had a nice visit with Mom. Muskegon has been buried with snow. Being next to Lake Michigan, it gets a lot of 'lake effect' snow. Must have been nearly a foot just on the car from the last storm. And mountains in the parking lots. They're running out of space to put it! The roads were messy, since it pretty much kept snowing constantly. But I was very careful, made it there and back without mishap. I heard on the news we're having the coldest December on record. Lucky us! And it's not just us. It seems much of the country has been caught in an early winter grip. And we're expecting more snow today and tomorrow.
But anyway, we'll take it easy today, We have a busy day, Christmas Eve, at the Salon. Then a nice quiet Christmas Day, (with Turkey and White Castle stuffing) and back to work for Friday, and Saturday.
Later!

Lazy Sunday

Good morning!
I've just returned form cleaning the Salon. We got another 2 inches of snow over night and expecting more today. Yesterday after work, we went to Craig's Niece's home in Haslett, about 20 miles east of here, for Craig's family Christmas.
It's mainly a snacking party,
So we chose to take Cheese Curds .
If you've never had them, your in for a treat!
We took 3 kinds. Regular, Cajun, and Garlic-dill.
You can't just eat one!
Today we'll make a few more cookies
and fudge for the Salon Christmas table.
And tomorrow, I go to Muskegon to see my Mom.
Oh, and I know you want to see how much snow we have so I've included a pic of the back yard. The bench and bird baths will give you a clue.
At least today is the first day of winter!
I'm sooo over this stuff already!

funny friday

This 'fall' has been a cold snowy one, and it's continuing, we're under a winter storm warning. Up to 6 f#*>ing inches of that f#*>ing stuff is forecast. And it's not even 'winter' yet! 'Sigh'

But anyway, on with our ff.........

Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother,
"Why is the bride dressed in white?""
The mother replied,
"Because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life."
The child thought about this for a moment then said,
"So why is the groom wearing black?"

Have a great weekend!

ps, Salon Christmas pics tomorrow!