Spin Cycle--28 New Things

So the challenge for the Spin Cycle this week is to list 28 things--anything, 28 movies, 28 books, 28 activities, 28 favorite foods, 28 things for a bucket list, 28 of what ever strikes your fancy. 
So what strikes my fancy? Well there's always books.  Books are safe, easy and no challenge for me to list.  How about I stretch a bit and pick 28 new things to try:

1. Indian food.  I admitted yesterday that I have never tried Indian food. I need to try it some time.
2. Visit a lighthouse.  The added bonus of this one is there should be a beach near by.
3. Cook something french.  And not french fries.  Something a bit more authentic and complicated.
4. Visit the Denver Aquarium.
5. Go to a Pop-up Paint party.
6. Go on a picnic with my Hubby as soon as weather permits.
7. Have a theme movie night--match movie to food and such.
8. Visit Idaho.  It's the one bordering state that I have not been to. I hear that there is some great geology there.
9. Learn some French as Turbo learns it.  Since Nick speaks it It can't hurt to pick up a bit of it.
10. Visit Canada.  I've only been to Niagara Falls when I was 12. A longer visit would be nice.
11. Start Swimming for exercise.
12. Visit a theme park with the boys.  Be it Disney or Universal.  Fun is the sun is definitely in order.
13. Visit Hawaii.  Tropical, and I don't need a passport.
14. Run a 5K.  I actually might do something like this this fall.  More a Mud run Obstacle course 5K, but it sounds more fun that just straight running.
15. Take a moon lit bike ride this summer.
16. Try a bold color for lipstick.  
17. Or just wear make up more regularly.
18. Finish watching Friends--I am currently on season 2.
19. Try real sushi.  Nick loves it and I should give genuine sushi a shot.
20. Take a dance class.  
21. Take a cooking class.
22. Make new scrap books for the boys.
23. Get a pedicure.
24. Play Frisbee golf.
25. Go Geocaching.
26. Take a day and bike to every park in our town.  Stop and enjoy something at each one.
27. Get a tattoo
28. Go scuba diving.

There, 28 things, mostly new, that I need to try.  It kind of works as a bucket list of sorts. Maybe I need to add these to my bucket list...

What's your list of 28?

Wednesady Hodgepodge--Random Mix

1. Did you watch The Oscars? How many of the Best Picture nominees have you seen? (American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, Selma, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash) We have seen none of those, but The Grand Budapest Hotel looks interesting and might be one we watch some day.  Not big new movie watchers.  We tend to catch them much later on disc.


Do you think actors should use their acceptance speeches as an opportunity to promote their political and/or social agenda? Does that sort of speech make you more or less inclined to change the channel? I'm not a huge fan of acceptance speeches.  Say thank you and move on. Yeah, not the generally accepted stand, but it not really the place to get political or drone on and on. So, I would definitely be more inclined to channel surf during one of those speeches.



2. Speaking of the movies... are you comfortable going to a movie alone? How about dinner in a restaurant (not fast food, but an actual restaurant)? The second half of this question was posed by Carrie who blogs over at It's Not Easy Being Queen. Thanks Carrie! I don't realy like going to the theater (I always freeze while watching the movie not matter what time of year it is and it's so expensive).  Going by myself holds no appeal.  I would go to a restaurant by myself, but I;d have to have a book or something to do.


3. What's the last home repair or home improvement project you had to pay someone to complete? In hindsight was this a project you could have done yourself? We had to call someone to come fix the furnace a couple weeks ago.  The repair guy told us what we can do if the furnace does the same thing again, but otherwise most home repair we (Nick) do ourselves.  A handy hubby is a fabulous thing!


4. Have you ever had Indian food? Like it or no? If you're a fan, what's your favorite dish? Have you ever prepared this yourself at home? Is there an Indian restaurant in your current hometown? I can't say I've had Indian food. It interests me, but I'd have to go light on the spice. I think we have an Indian restaurant, but I haven't heard great things about it and getting to it is not exactly easy--it's by the university dorms and parking it limited.


5. A song that reminds you of your parents? I never knew my father, but a song that reminds me of my mother...
My mother loved Chris LeDoux, a cowboy singer from Kaycee Wyoming.  He was a rodeo brinc rider and quite a good singer.  Her favorite song of his was Paint Me Back Home in Wyoming:

6. The 26th of February is National Tell A Fairy Tale Day. What's your favorite, or one of your favorite, fairy tales? Do you have any childhood memories associated with a particular fairy tale?  Hmmm, a fairy tale.  I have enjoyed the Grimm fairy tales, the slightly less sanitized versions.  But my favorite take in fairy tales came from Mercedes Lackey's series of the 500 Kingdoms that starts with the book The Fairy Godmother.  Such a fun and interesting twist of fairy tales.


7. What's a problem you solved yesterday? I'm not sure of I solved a problem yesterday.  We figured out what to have for dinner, but that wasn't a real problem.  Yeah, yesterday wasn't a problem solving kind of day.


8. Insert your own random thought here. Bruiser lost his first tooth.  It actually came out last Friday.  He was thrilled to be able to use his tooth fairy pillow that hangs on the door handle.  The Tooth Fairy was on her game and swapped the tooth for a whole dollar.  Brusier was thrilled.

His other bottom front tooth will be coming out very soon.  He's growing up so quickly, but he still gives some of the best snuggles.

Randomly Thinking

Yo, we made it though Monday!  Another Monday down.  Now we get to start aiming for the weekend.  But first, a few random thoughts:

• And winter is back on here.  We had a nice run of 40-50 degree weather.  Thawed everything out quite nicely.  And then winter reared it's cold snowy head again. At least the cold came with snow.  I hate it when it's all brown adn cold.  White and cold is just easier to take.
• I finished reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to Bruiser.  We read for 10-15 minutes before he goes to bed most nights.  So now we get to watch the movie and start the next book--The Prisoner of Azkaban. Bruiser is really enjoying the books.  Even Turbo listens in most nights.
• This:

• They have those Pop-up paint parties around here.  I'd love to go but most of them happen on the same night as Nick has his Trad Archery league. The parties look like such fun.  One of these days I'll make it to one with a friend, one of these days...
• I have many days where I want to do this:

•  The time change is in like two weeks.  I mentioned it this morning and Turbo was like so we lose and hour then?  I said not really.  It's more like they shift the hours so it's light in the afternoon instead of the mornings. Kind of like cutting the bottom of the blanket off and sewing it to the top of the blanket.  The blanket is no bigger, just shifted around. Turbo thought the time change seemed sort of dumb after that. I can't argue with that assessment.

So that covers my random.  What do you have?
Have a great Tuesday and random it up with Stacy.

Keep on Movin' Forward

And another Monday strikes.  This one wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't gone to celebrate a friend's birthday.  I was up a bit too late and the wine flowed freely.  Things are a bit slow this AM.
Otherwise the weekend was pretty quiet.  We had weather.  It's snowed and then got way cold.  Normal weather for February, for us at least.  I got to curl up on the couch and read and we had a James Bond, 007 movie marathon.  It was awesome.
We did manage to get the batch of beer Nick had perking bottled.  Now, two weeks and I get some yummy coffee stout.  Looking forward to it!

And in a lighter look at Monday:

Now on to MMMM.  It's a Freebie week so let's see what we can come up with for your listening pleasure:
Deee-lite with Groove is in the Heart:

Suzanne Vega with Tom's Diner:

Spin Cycle--Binging

Everyone binges on occasion.  Be it books, food, chocolate, beer, or something else, we all binge.  There are so many devices these days that make binging so much easier cough*Netflix*cough. They say moderation in everything, but sometimes binging can be so much fun.
For the spin Cycle this week, Ginny has asked some questions that pertain to binging:

1. What have you been reading lately? I have been glomming on romances recently.  The time of year and all.  Having the Kindle makes reading one book after another oh so easy. I have been an avid reader all my life and really can't conceive of anything that would be worse than not having access to books in one form or another.
2. Is there anything good on your television?  We just recently got access to Netflix.  We have been exploring the wonderful world that is available in entertainment there.  This last weekend, while I folded clothes I got to watch the first season of Friends.  Nick and I we only casual watchers of Friends when it was on TV originally.  That was the time of retail and evening work and limited cable access. Being semirural here in Wyoming, the over the air channels are iffy at best. It's nice to be able to watch them in order.
3. Is there something that you can’t get enough of? Books, always.  Time, definitely.  Sleep, perpetually.

What might you be binging on currently?

Wednesday Hodgepodge Time

And off we go with the questions:

1. When did you last have to interact, either by phone or in person, with someone in a government run agency? On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the experience? (10 being fabulous and 1 being pass the Tylenol)  Does calling the school count?  We had to do a lot of calling to let the school know Turbo was out sick.  The experience was fine, so a 6 on the scale.

2. The current governor of Wisconsin is considering a run for President next time around. Walker attended Marquette University, but never graduated. In terms of any candidate running for the office of President (not asking here if you agree or disagree with Scott Walker's politics) would the lack of a college degree influence your vote or no? Would that be a factor in your support of any candidate running for public office, even a role less weighty than President?  Finishing college is a benefit, but not for everyone.  Finishing does prove you can see something through to the end, so there's that.  I guess as long as the politician was honest about not finishing, it wouldn't bother me if they do the job they were elected for.  Competency is not measured by pieces of paper that say you did something.  It's measured by the things you do and do well.

3. When did you last visit a place or site named for George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, and what was that place or site?  THe rest area about 5 miles out of town is set on the highest point on I80.  When the highway was US87 it was named the Lincoln Highway.  There is a bronze bust of Lincoln that looks over the interstate.  We pass it every time we head east out of town.

4. February 16th was President's Day in the US, but did you know it was also National Almond Day? I didn't think so : ) Do you like almonds? If so, what's a food/dish/recipe you enjoy that contains almonds?  I like munching almonds--raw ones and smoked ones.  I also enjoy a good almond chicken from the Chinese place in town.

5.The television program Saturday Night Live celebrated it's 40th anniversary this past weekend. Were/are you a fan of the show? If so what has been your favorite (or one of your favorite) skits, sayings, or characters that came out of the program?  I was a default fan from hearing about it in the late 80s/early 90s.  The time of Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, John Lovitz, and so many others.  It wasn't long ago when we introduced the boys to Wayne's World the movie and Turbo at least, liked it.

6. Anything purple within ten feet of you? What is it?  Nope. 

7. Back in December I asked you to submit a question for a future HP as part of a giveaway I was hosting. I grabbed this one from those entries, submitted by Zoanna who blogs over at Penchant for Pens. Thanks Zoanna!

She asks, "How often do you make your bed, and how do you like to make it-pull the covers all the way up over the pillows, tuck the covers in around the pillows, or place all the pillows on top of the covers?" 

We just pull the covers up to the pillows and go with it.  The only time the bed it truly "Made" is when I change the sheets.

8. Insert your own random thought here.   So after a rocky start on Monday, I have found most of my ambition and motivation.  Let's see it I can keep it up for the rest of the week. We are supposed to get weather this weekend, so it looks like it will be an at home kind of weekend. A snuggle in sort of thing. How about you?

Time for Random

Tuesday.  You are so much better than Monday.  I'm not in pain, it's cold but not snowing, and I just might be able to find a small bit of motivation.
Now on to the random:

• I have not passed the kidney stone, but it's mostly done moving.  I wanted to curl up in and ball and cry yesterday during the worst of it.  So much worse than labor pains, and nothing to show for it when you are done.  No one, and I mean no one, asks to see the kidney stone.
• We might be close to having Turbo caught up from when he missed a week to Bronchitis. At least I hope he's caught up.  
• Bruiser has been playing ninja warrior and the game involves a lot of sword swishing, with sound effects provided by Bruiser.  These sound effects are at just the correct level to be instantly irritating. I'm not sure how he does it, but he manages to find that one thing and then repeats it over and over and over...
• This:

Or closes the door, or turns off a light...

•  At BuzzFeed there is a run of photos for a guy who makes his own bookstore groups.  Really, check them out--Animals I Want to Wrestle, Guys who lost their shirts...
• Any body want to come clean the house for me?  What, no takers?  Come on, it'll be fun...
• We have been exploring Netflix recently.  It is kind of addicting.  Although, I don't think I'm ready to give up satellite just yet.

So what's your random?
Have a great Tuesday and random it up with Stacy.

Hi Monday!

After a busyish weekend, it's not so bad to see this Monday.  However, A kidney stone is making it's presence known and I am most decidedly uncomfortable.  It's not a fold me in half pain, but it hurts.
Now on to other news. Bruiser had a great time at his friends birthday party on Saturday then it was off for frozen yogurt with other friends. 
We tried to go out for dinner, but the chinese restaurant was closed for a family emergency.  So off for grocery store fried chicken and such.  There was not another restaurant option as it was Valentine's Day and everywhere was packed.  AND we had 13 people that we needed to sit.  So yeah, eating at home with a minimum of fuss and dishes seemed the best option.
Sunday was quiet.  I accomplished all the laundry--even the towels are clean and put away!  It's the put away part that amazes me.
And we have winter again.  It is cold and snowy here and looks to be that way for the next week or so.  Go winter!


Now on to MMMM.  This week is top 40 TV theme songs.
The Moonlighting theme:

The Dukes of Hazzard theme:

And last the M*A*S*H Theme song.  Yes, for the TV show they only used and instrumental version, but I like the original.

Have a good week.

Friday Confessions

I haven't done a Friday confession for a while, so here goes:

• With tomorrow being Valentine's day, I'm kind of hoping that Nick does something for me.
• It won't be a romantic dinner out, we have friends coming to town and that means chinese out with about 12 people, counting the kids.
• But I still hope he does something nice for me.  
• I plan on having something for him.
• Nothing extravagant, but something.
• This weekend will be busy.
• Not only do we have friends in town, but Bruiser has a birthday party tomorrow.
• We did manage to get his school Valentines and party snack in his backpack today.
• I always feel good when I get all the ducks in a row.
• Laundry this weekend too, because the laundry elves are lost again.
• I think they went to party with the house cleaning fairies. 
• They certainly aren't hanging around my house.
• Personally, I would much rather chuck the household chores and read, but that's not really possible.
• If I don't do it, no one else will.
• But hey, wine makes all the chores easier to do right?
• And chocolate.
• Chocolate makes everything better.

Have a great weekend!

Spin Cycle--What You Love

This week, in honor of Valentine's Day, the Spin Cycle is what do you love.  There are many things I love.  My family, good friends, a good dark beer, a nice glass of Merlot, a wiggly dog all happy to see me...
So yeah lots of things I love.  I think a list is in order:

• Nick

• My boys, Turbo and Bruiser

• The pets we have: Guiness, our elder grumpy dog; Thullee, the over enthusiastic younger dog; Piper, the cat of all cats.  They light up our lives
• Our many good friends, that keep us from crawling into a cave and hiding.
• A great glass of dark beer (which Nick has a batch perking away in the basement right now!)
• Lobster, crab, shrimp, scallops, shellfish of most persuasions.
• A good steak.
• Smoked ribs.
• A good book.
• Family time.
• A road trip.
• Camping.
• The first shower when you get home from camping.
• Road hunting--looking for a road you have not been down and seeing where it goes, be it paved or unpaved.
• Four wheeling.
• Hugs from my guys--big and little.
• Random thoughtful moments from Nick.

Now, before I get maudlin, let's see what you love!
Link up with the Spin Cycle!

Hodgepodge Wednesday

Here we go:

1. Have you ever written a love letter? Have you written one recently? Had one written to you? Did you keep it? I wrote love letters to my husband back when we were first going out and lived 300 miles apart. That summer we saw each other rarely, but were able to send letters so we wrote each other a lot. I have not written one recently, unless love texts count.  I often send a quick love you text to Nick when he's out of town now.

2. What's a movie that ends in a way you especially love? It's cheesy, but I love the way Rock of Ages ends. I love a feel good ending with the implied happy ending.  I'm not one for an ambiguous ending.

3. Something that makes your heart sing? And for those of you who are parents, I mean something besides your children that makes your heart sing? Seeing a glorious sunrise or sun set makes my heart sing.

4. What's the last event you had to attend, phone call you had to make, routine task you needed to complete, or meal you had to prepare, that you did do, but only half-heartedly? Dinner last night was a half-hearted affair.  It was just warming up left overs but I was not really excited about it.

5. Tuna fish salad-yay or blech? If you said yay, how do you like your tuna salad prepared? Hey, this is the Hodgepodge, right?  I'm OK with tuna fish salad, but I like it with sweet relish, boiled eggs and plenty of garlic powder, onion powder, dill and lemon pepper for seasons.  mayo and mustard to round it out.  I especially love it with saltine crackers and I eat it almost as a dip.  Not one for tuna fish salad sandwiches.

6. What's something you 'know by heart'? How to make my version of Chicken Cordon Bleu.  I've made it often enough and it's simple enough that I can make it anywhere.

7. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, what two or three word phrase would you write on a conversation heart for someone you love? That someone could be a spouse, child, parent, cousin, bestie...anyone at all whom you love.  Together Always for my hubby.  Sweetie Pie for Bruiser.  Cool Dude for Turbo.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. We have hit the blah part of winter.  All my motivation has flown south.  The urge to snuggle in is strong.  However, I am still getting things done around the house.  Kind of.  Anyone want to lend me their motivation mojo?

Random Tuesday

Yeah, Tuesday.  You would have to masquerade as a Monday.  Yep this morning our furnace decided that blowing hot air was so yesterday and cold air was much better. Not exactly what you want to have happen when it's 33 degrees outside.  So yeah.
In other random news:

• Despite the cold in the mornings, yesterday afternoon was in the 50s.  Bruiser got out his bike and refreshed his biking skills.  He's got a bit to learn on the starting off side of bicycling, but he's not far away from getting it. Still, weather warm enough to bicycle in February.  That is crazy.
• I got a good night of sleep last night.  I truly hope for a repeat tonight.
• With how much video games have advanced, I remember this game:

• I have many days like this:

• So I get a girls night out tonight.  It may be needed depending on how the furnace repair goes.  Life and it's lemons can just go somewhere else and hope they can make the stupid lemonade.

How is you week going?
So what is your random looking like?  Have a great Tuesday and random it up with Stacy.

Monday Musing and MMMM

So, this last weekend was not as relaxed as I expected it to be.  Well, OK, it was relaxed, just busier than we originally planned.
Saturday started off with the weekly grocery run.  Nick and I accomplished that one in short order.  Then Nick headed out to the garage so he could take advantage of some decent weather and brew a batch of beer. I hung out inside and read.  It was nice.
Around 4 we headed over to some friends and had dinner.  Bruiser had a great time playing with his friend B.  We headed home so we could check on Turbo, who was still getting over Bronchitis.

Plenty of army/survivalist was played.

Sunday started out pretty quiet and I had visions of a nice quiet day reading.  But another friend of Bruiser's called and we ended up over there for a good chunk of the day.
Sunday evening was again quiet and the guys got to watch The Avengers and have some guy time. All in all it was a good weekend, but busier than I expected.

And now for MMMM.  It's a freebie week and since Valentine's day is this weekend, let's get mushy.
Thompson Square with If I Didn't Have You:

Trace Adkins with This Ain't No Love Song:

And Lady Antebellum with I Did With You:

Spin Cycle--Birthdays

This week the spin Cycle is about birthdays. This is an easy topic as we just had a birthday at our place for Bruiser.  He turned 6.  My baby is 6.  OK, deep breath.  Moving on, moving on...
Bruiser got to celebrate his birthday three times.  Once with family, once at school and once with his friends.

Passing out rice crispy treats at school.

Presents with the fam.

Junior Scrabble.  I guess I'll be playing scrabble...

Birthday dinner, chosen by Bruiser.  Chicken strips, green beans, and home fried potatoes

Art party finger painting

Arm painting...

Modelling clay

He had a fantastic birthday.  It was a good way to celebrate the passing of another year for him.
Link up with the Spin Cycle!

Wednesday Hodgepodge--February!

Questions!

1. Do you wear your heart on your sleeve, or keep your emotions tucked in tight? I'm more the keep my emotions close to me.  If I trust you then you will see more of them, but I don't tend to broadcast them.

2. How did you meet your closest friend? One of my closest friends is the sister of one of Nick's best friends.  I met her when she moved here and Nick's friend introduced her to me.  It took some time but we ended up going out for drinks regularly and found out we enjoy a lot of the same things--thrift store shopping, country music, reading, and fantasy shows on TV.  We have a great time when we get together.

3. Pink lemonade, grilled salmon, cotton candy, pink grapefruit, a strawberry milkshake, or raspberry sorbet...of the pink foods listed, which one is your favorite? Least favorite? Which one have you most recently consumed? My favorite would have to be a strawberry milkshake. Least favorite pink grapefruit. Most recently consumed would be grilled salmon.

4. When were you last 'tickled pink' over something? Explain. At Christmas. Nick was so
pleased with the guitar I got him, and so surprised. I was thrilled to be able to get him something he's wanted for ages.

5. Are you a fan of television talk shows? Daytime, nighttime, or both? What's your favorite? Not really a fan, but Nick really enjoys Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.  He has yet to miss an episode.  He records them and watches them at his leisure. I have enjoyed watching the occasional episode with him.

6. When was the last time you wanted to ask a question, but felt too foolish to do so?  Hmmm, I can't really think of a recent time. 

7. My favorite __________________right now is _________________.  My favorite pastime right now is reading.  Of course it always has been, but I'm really liking it now that it's the time of year to curl up and snuggle in due to weather.

8. Insert your own random thought here. My poor Turbo has bronchitis.  He has tons of meds and is coughing something awful.  Poor kid.  I wish I could make him all better.

Random Things

Yeah, so the sicks are not done with our house yet.  Turbo is down with the nasty cough.  I tell you it's been some fun around our place.  Now on to the random:

• I am so ready for more snow to fall.  See, we get far more snow in February and March than we get in December and January.  At least in town.  I like having it snow. And yes, I do get tired of it when it's still snowing in April.  And May.  And sometimes June.
• This:

• Insomnia has come to visit again.  I think the moon has something to do with it.  At least taht's what I'm gonna blame it on.
• I'm getting some urges to get creative in the kitchen.  Not sure what to make yet, but I think I want to try some new recipes and have some fun.
• I need to add this:

•  I think this next weekend will be pretty quiet.  We don't have much planned.  This is not a bad thing.

So what is your random looking like?  Have a great Tuesday and random it up with Stacy.

Of Busy Weekends and MMMM

We had a very fun, but very busy weekend.  Birthdays, Evenings out, Superbowl, yep.  Busy!
It all started with Bruiser's Birthday party Saturday afternoon.
As I had said, we went with an art theme.  We let the kids finger paint on poster board and them paint wooden dinosaurs and then they got to play with modeling clay. 

A little bit of hulk action with the green finger paint.

After getting all the paint mostly cleaned up, we moved on to cupcakes adn ice cream.  Bruiser then got to open his presents.  The party went so well that most of the kids didn't want to go home when the party was over.  We will call it a success.
Later that night, Nick and I got a date night.  We met up with friends and shot a bit of pool and had a really good time out of the house being adults.
Sunday I finished up laundry (the folding and putting away part mostly), then we got ready and headed over to our friends for the Superbowl.  We didn't really care who won, but we were hoping for a good game.  It wasn't a spectacular game really.  And the commercials were...less then interesting.  The half time show was pretty good though.

Now for MMMM:  Duets this week:
Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet with It's Five O'clock Somewhere:

Shania Twain and Billy Currington with Party for Two:

Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles with Who Says You Can't Go Home:

Enjoy!