Oh, Tuesday

Let's random up the joint!

• What is it with boys and hanging out in their underwear?  It's cute at 3.  Not so cute at 12. I can give ground on the shirt, they are boys after all, but I demand that they at least put on shorts.  They can even run around in underwear in their rooms, but not all over the house. A small bit of decorum should be observed.
• This is so true:

• Looking forward to a hot fun weekend at the lake, but I think we are not going to be camping.  The lake is like 25 minutes from town, But tends to have winds.  With a pop-up, wind is a not so good thing.  Bruiser has never seen a fireworks show either.  We always go camping or are out of town, so we thought we'd try to make the show this year.
• The mosquitoes are vicious right now so:

• Chocolate muffins are really just chocolate cake in disguise.
• In honor of the sunburn I got this weekend, food (or drink) for thought:

Have a great week!
Join up for the Randomness with Stacy.

Good Times

It's so nice that it's summer here.  We had a weekend that was full, but relaxed at the same time.
Friday afternoon I took the kids to the outdoor pool and managed to get myself a sunburn.  The boys, I slathered in sunscreen, but not me.  Oh well, it'll fade away to a tan by Wednesday.

Then we had an impromptu backyard cookout.  Coronas and lime and burgers and chips and queso make for a good Friday night.
Saturday was a very full day.  I yard saled with a friend, not that there were very many, but it was a nice morning.  Then Nick and I took the boys out for a paddle.  We grabbed lunch on the way back and then cleaned up the house a bit since the cousins were coming over so their parents could enjoy their anniversary. Nick spent the afternoon cleaning up beside the garage--the area between the neighbors garage and ours.  A bit more clearing out and we can park the four wheeler back there.
Sunday I made breakfast.  Monkey bread, bacon and eggs.

The rest of Sunday was pretty lazy.  I'm not complaining.  I still got vacuuming done and a few loads of laundry--the things that only need washing occasionally, blankets and rugs and such.

Now for MMMM.  Freebie week:
Miranda Lambert with Smokin' and Drinkin':

Blake Shelton with Kiss My Country A**

Jake Owen with Real Life:

Confess It All Friday

Happy Dance everyone!  It's Friday! Whoop whoop!
Alright now that that's over let's confess so the weekend goes well, shall we?

• There was a suicidal spider in the shower this morning.
• OK, so it was an assisted suicide.
• Death by drowning.
• At least I didn't scream.

• We took the fun way to work this morning.
• Rode the Four Wheeler.
• Ignored the strange looks and double takes completely.
• Contemplating playing hooky to go swimming this afternoon.
• Swimming holds tons more appeal.
• Especially because we get to meet friends there.

•  Allergies have been kicking our butts here.
• I really wish the plants would restrain themselves.
• Their attempts at procreation in our noses are not appreciated.

Hodgepodge Wednesday!

Let's Hodgepodge:

1. June 23rd is National Pink Day. What's your favorite something pink?
Strawberry ice cream.  Or shrimp. I can go either way.

2. What did you enjoy most about gym class when you were in school? How about the least? 
Enjoy the most? When it was over. I wasn't much for organized sports and was less than athletic in school.  But I did go out for the swim team all four years of high school, so there's that.

As for the least, any sport where balls were involved--I tended to get out of the way, not try to hit said ball when it came my way.


3. What memory is brought to mind by the smell of roses?
There was an old perfume that Avon sold called Roses Roses (I think) and my aunt wore it.  When I smell roses I think of here and that perfume.

4. Do you prefer to read or write?
 Read definitely.  I like writing my blog, but I'm not one for creating fiction.  I can edit and love reading, but I am not a writer.

5. Sam Keen is quoted as saying, 'Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.' Would you agree? Is laziness ever respectable? How will you be lazy this summer?
It depends.  If you are not doing what you should then laziness is not respectable, but if you have everything done and there is nothing else to do then laziness is perfectly OK.
Our laziness is oriented on winging dinner, far less structure in the schedule, and do more of what we please than what we should.

6. The Florida Keys, Disney World, or a resort somewhere on the Gulf Coast...which Florida destination would you choose (and why) if the trip were today? 
Disney world for the boys, but I'd do the Keys if it were just Nick and I going.

7. What question do you hate to answer? 
What's for dinner? Planning meals is the most thankless job, aside from the other household chores.  I can rarely please all the participants in the dinner lottery.  I'm happy if I can get 75% approval.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
We ahve been leaving a list of chores for Turbo to do during the day--doing dishes, water plants cleaning the toilet, etc.
Yesterday the list included Dog Doo Pick-up.  Nick commented that it was a funny way to put that particular chore.  I came back at him with "I hardly think Turbo would understand if I told him to collect the canine excrement from the rear yard. Turbo has a good vocabulary, but that one would sail right over his head."
Nick laughed and agreed.  Turbo would laugh at us for sounding like Sheldon.

Random-like Tuesday

Well, the camper is still in the mountains.  Broken.  But with any luck we will be able to retrieve it this afternoon.  It has become far more involved than we thought it would be.
Now for some random fun:

• These would give me nightmares:

• My kids would hate them too.
• But reading the paper associated with it would be awesome:

• We have been investing in batteries.

•  And I think I'll leave off with this:

Have a great week and may it go by quickly!
Join up for the Randomness with Stacy.

What a Weekend

Yeah, so this last weekend was great but nothing like we thought it would be going into it.
To start off, we thought we would go camping.  Nick's birthday was Sunday and with Father's Day and all, Nick wanted to go camping. And then...

You see that there...with the piece of metal hanging down?  Not supposed to look like that.  It means the tongue of our camper broke. So no camping for us.
After getting it unhooked from the truck, we secured what we could and headed home to call the insurance company for help in towing the silly thing to a welding shop so it can be fixed.
So what to do with the rest of the weekend?  Go get another sit on top Kayak of course.  And then spend Sunday at one of the local lakes playing in the water.

This was last year, but yesterday was pretty similar.

We added a second green one.

Nick had a wonderful birthday.  I got him a Guitar tabs music book and a Sons of Anarchy hoodie.  He was pretty ahppy with his birthday, even if it wasn't spent quite the way he thought it would be.

Now for MMMM.  This week's theme is songs with water in the title or in the song.

Brad Paisley with River Bank:

Craig Morgan with Redneck Yacht Club:

 
Toby Keith with God Love Her:

Wednesday--Half Way There!

Yep, half the week is gone now.  We get to start the slide to the weekend.  Looking forward to it!
Now let's do some questions:

1. June is National Great Outdoors Month. Have you spent any time appreciating the great outdoors this month? If so where, and if not do you have any plans to enjoy the great outdoors before the calendar turns? 
We were in the great outdoors on Sunday.  We plan to go camping this weekend. Getting out is one of our favorite activities. It's good for the soul.  Especially when we can find a dirt road we haven't been down before.

2. What's a current hot button issue for you? 
School issues.  I don't like the recent trend to teach to a standardized test. There is more concern over teaching to the lowest common denominator but now real creativity because the test scores are more important. Not sure what would fix this, but it still irks me.

3. What's a food or treat that 'disappears like hotcakes' in your house?
There is a snack mix with Cheezits that goes well.  Salt and vinegar chips disappear quickly too. I never have trouble selling chicken, ribs or steak either.

4. How hot is too hot? 
For us anything much over 90.  Thankfully we don't get that hot very often around here.

5. Do you have an artistic outlook on life? What does that mean to you?  
I'm not sure if I do or not.  I can see beauty in most things and I like to take pictures, but don't do it often enough. 

6. What's one question you'd like to ask your father, or one you wish you could ask your father? Wow.  Since I never knew my father (he committed suicide when I was three months old) I think I would just love to have a conversation with him and get to know him as a person. I'd like to know if I'm like him in personality, or if we would clash.
I'd also like to ask him why?

7. Something you learned from your father?
See the above question.  I had step-fathers, but my mom had poor taste in men. I guess one thing from one step father that stuck with me was to never be distracted while driving. Never let the music playing, the other people in the car or what not take your attention away from the act of driving.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 
I'm ready to go camping.  I know the first trip is always the bug working out one and things will be forgotten and all, but we will be out of town, it will be quiet and nice to just be for a while. And I'll get some reading in...

Back At It--Monday

This last weekend was fun and just busy enough to be good without being exhausting. Just what a weekend should be.
Friday was a do nothing night for us because my neck/shoulder decided that is hated me. I spent the evening with ice, Aleve and the e-stim Nick has trying to get my head to turn again. Fun times.
By Saturday I was feeling better.  We did yard stuff and set up the camper so we could get it ready to take up camping. I went to a local concert with a friend that evening.  We got to hear some good music and it was fun to get out.
Sunday Nick went to Curt Gowdy State Park and went through their outdoor archery course.  He didn't lose or break any arrows and he was satisfied with his shooting. After he got home we loaded up the dogs and kids and headed to the mountains to scout a camping sight for next weekend.  It's Father's day, but also Nick's birthday so we are going camping, somewhere.
Then we came home and did the lazy thing. It was a good weekend.

Now for MMMM:
Freebie Week so here's a song from one fo the bands we saw this weekend:
Patti Fiasco with You Break it You Buy It:

Just for fun, Brad Paisley with Crushin' It:

Spin Cycle--Summer Reading

As I might have said once or twice (or maybe more), I love to read.  It's my escape and a way to deal with stress.  Reading a book can make my stress levels reduce by giving me a way to just let it all go for a while.  Summer is a wonderful time to read.  Camping trips and road trips give me much opportunities to read to my heart's content.
There are a few books on the agenda for this summer. We have our road trip book--the set of David Eddings books I am read aloud when we decide that we must escape town. We are currently on book three of five. Turbo is totally enthralled and gets quite disappointed when we actually reach our destination as that means he has to wait for more of the story.
I also have a few books waiting for me on the Kindle for camping trips:

• Lynsay Sands' newest--The Immortal Who Loved Me
• Amanda Quick's newest--Garden of lies
• Rick Castle books: Heat Wave, Naked Heat, Heat Rises

I will probably go back to some oldies but goodies too with:

• Zoe Archer's Blades of the Rose series (she also has a few other books lurking on the old Kindle as well.  Steampunkish and fun.)
• Gail Carriger has several series, but there is a new book in one that I have yet to read.  I think I need to before getting the next in the series. Her series are also quite steampunk and tons of fun.
• I have several History books I can delve into.  Yes, I am a history nerd.
• I also have a stock pile of magazines to catch up on--Parent, Allrecipes, Food and Family, Good Housekeeping, All You.

I truly have some reading ahead of me this summer.  The fact that I read year round has nothing to do with summer reading. It really doesn't.  Honest!
OK, yes I am a bookworm.  In another life I would ahve been a librarian.  To be able to surround myself with books...
Bliss.
A reading nook would be ideal, like these:

Maybe cushier chairs...
So, read and enjoy your summer!

Random Time

Yeah, so here's Tuesday and I'm oh, so glad it's not Monday any more.  Now let's get to the random:

• And insomnia has come to visit once again.  I was doing so well with the sleeping thing--once I went to sleep, I stayed asleep.  I could, of course, gone to sleep earlier, but I was at least sleeping.  The last couple of nights, not so much. Stupid 3 am.  It really doesn't need my company.

• Nick has a birthday coming up.  This year it happens to coincide with Father's day.  So we get to double up on the gifty things.  He keeps making noises about going camping, but we shall see what we get accomplished.
• I was shocked, but enchanted:

• Really, go Google it. Be surprised too.

Have a great week!
Join up for the Randomness with Stacy.

Monday, Monday

I must say that I really enjoyed our weekend.  The weather was warm with just a few thunderstorms that didn't last all that long. 
I conquered the laundry mountain--all washed, dried, folded and put away.  Of course the towels are still waiting, but they get their turn tonight through the wash and spin.  I even cooked this weekend.  Pork roast, a sundried tomato chicken alfredo, and we grilled chicken with friends.  Summer is the time of good food.
I got to go thrift store shopping--found some great jeans, capris and a few shorts.  Dropping a bit of weight sure makes wearing clothes more fun.
So with summer coming MMMM is summer themed songs:

Kid Rock with All Summer Long:

Rascal Flatts with Summer Nights:

Kenny Chesney and Uncle Cracker with When the Sun Goes Down:

Hodgepodging on Wednesday

Let's get to the questions:

1. What's something you're looking forward to in the month of June? June is the beginning of summer here.  It's warm, but not hot, we get some thunderstorms, and it's the month of Father's day and Nick's birthday--both on the same day this year!  We have some camping we want to do and some cooking out with friends.  It's time to enjoy summer.

2. In what way have you come full circle? Oh, a hard one.  After some uncertainty with the job front, we are relatively secure again.  It's nice to know we are appreciated.

3. Lonely Planet lists 10 spots in America you should see in 2015 and the reasons why. How many on the list have you seen? Which one on the list would you most like to see?

Queens NY, Western South Dakota, New Orleans, Colorado River Region, North Conway NH, Indianapolis IN, Greenville SC, Oakland CA, Duluth MN, and the Mount Shasta Region CA

I have been to Queens (I was 12), I've been to Western South Dakota several times (always fun), but I haven't really been to the other places on the list.  I'd love to see New Orleans, and the Mount Shasta Region of California looks really beautiful.
4. A song that describes your mood right now?

5. Strawberry ice cream, strawberry short cake, strawberry pie, or strawberries right off the vine...your favorite? Strawberry ice cream.  But I won't turn down any type of strawberry really. Although the best ones are the tiny ones you pick off the vines in the mountains.

6. Aesop's birthday is celebrated on June 4th, although there is some disagreement as to whether or not that's accurate, or if he was even a real person. Regardless, the name Aesop is associated to this day with many well known fables. Which of the following best applies to something in your life right now? The Tortoise and the Hare (Slow and Steady wins the race), The Ant and the Grasshopper (Be prepared), The Fox and the Goat (Look before you leap) or The Crow and the Pitcher (Necessity is the mother of invention)?

I probably tend more toward The Tortoise and the Hare as being steady and pushing forward is the way I go about things.

7. The answer is yes...what's the question?  Are you happy right now?  I am.  Things are going pretty well at the current time.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
We did some gardening this last weekend.  We ultimately grew a Bruiser:

 We plan on getting some vegetable plants go here, but I know of no boy that can resist playing in the dirt.

Tuesday and It's Randomish

Hey all!  Must say that I'm thrilled it's not Monday any more.  Not that yesterday was that bad, but still--Monday. So, let's Random:

• And it is oh, so nice that the weather has decided to warm up. I was so getting over the snow.  Now it is just thunderstorms.  The dog is unhappy with the storms, but you can't please everyone.
• We have flowers:

• We have tons more work to do but it's nice to see flowers after all the cold and wet we had that last month.
• This:

• And then I saw this and really wanted it:

• The only issue would be emptying the thing.  Ewww!

 So have a great week everyone!
Join up for the Randomness with Stacy.

OH, Monday!

So it's the first day that my boys didn't have to get up for school.  I truly thought they would sleep in and enjoy the fact that they weren't required to be up and at 'em first thing.  However, both boys were up by 7 and playing on Turbo's new computer.  I will never understand those kids.
We had a beautiful weekend.  The weather was fantastic.  We finally got some sunshine and warm temps. So we smoked a bunch of meat--beef short ribs, baby back ribs and a chicken--and thoroughly enjoyed the good weather doing a bit of yard work and such.
We lazed around Sunday and it was glorious. This weekend was a wonderful way to start the summer off.

And now on to MMMM.  It's a freebie week so here ya go:
Joe Diffie with Third Rock from the Sun:

Frankie Ballard with Young and Crazy:

Blake Shelton with Sangria:

This last one has been stuck in my head all weekend.  Maybe this will eradicate it.  But probably not.