Wasting time

Wasting time- we all do it. Sometimes we feel like we just need to do nothing.

Sure. Everyone needs a break. You're working hard, you come home, and you don't feel like cleaning up the house. I understand. I'm in the exact same situation.

Here's my suggestion. Take 15 minutes- that's all- and clean up 1 area of your house. Rotate what room you do on which day. And if you're feelin' it, keep on going!

Have you ever followed the FLY lady? She's all about routines- which are a good thing! The only ones I've ever been any good at are shining my sink and cleaning up things 15 minutes at a time. It really really works.

That's my advice to you today, readers. Clean up 15 minutes a day, whether you feel like it or not.

Your house will come together and you'll feel better.

A New Look!!

Well, I can't be shy about this because I'm thrilled that I finally took the time to learn how to do it- my blog is finally pretty!! Woohoo!

Do you know, reader, how long I have wished my blog looked nice? Since I started it...before that, even, since I used to blog with brave journal and I really couldn't change much.

I actually just spent some time reading through my old journal. I was a lot more entertaining then. lol I guess I'm old and stuffy now, compared to 2005-2009.

Here's one of the last things I blogged about (talking about different types of blogs I had found and how mine wasn't quite like any of them...which is still true today!).
November, 2009

"I'm not cheap enough for the frugal blogs (and I am cheap...I just don't paint toilet paper tubes and fill them with candy as Christmas presents...because that is ridiculous)."

Yes. I'm still not cheap enough to do that- not that I'm judging you if you're saving your Charmin tubes. lol!

MASH is on right now. I have no idea what is going on, but Radar is carrying a girl through this field. Looks like she's sick or hurt or something. Now Hawkeye is driving her back (I assume to MASH).

I made something new for supper tonight- pizza chicken rollups. It was in a Taste Of Home's Quick Cooking magazine and I have to say- it was easy and really good. Just take 4 chicken breasts, pound them out to about 1/4 inch thick, throw a few pieces of pepperoni on them, then put a slice of mozzarella cheese on them, roll em up, fasten with a toothpick and top them with pizza sauce. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes (covered with foil) then uncover and put more cheese on top. Bake another 10 minutes or so, till the cheese is nice and melty.

I served mine with a spinach salad. It really wasn't hard to make. Pounding out chicken is always a pain in the rear, but hey, it produced delicious results.

I just picked up an old cross stitch project the other day- it has been a very long time since I've taken the time to work on any kind of needlework at all. However, I'm happy to be back at it. It's a nice cozy activity during these winter months. I still hope to piece together a quilt someday. Maybe. We shall see. I just have this feeling that I'd make the top and then lose interest.

I really sort of rambled off topic. Are you surprised?? lol You shouldn't be!

At any rate, to wrap things up, I am so glad to have you here, reading my blog and I hope that you enjoy the new look!

Have a great night everyone!

Mandy

Happy New Year! (A few days late)

Welcome to 2012, everyone! Now that we've been here for a few days and are starting to get comfortable, how's it going?

I can't really say that I'm big on resolutions. I sort of pretend to make one up and I think about it for a day or so, but I really don't ever get much out of it.

I did accomplish one thing last year- I read the Bible. Woot! I feel pretty good about finishing it up. I'm doing it again this year. It's free and pretty easy to do through CBN's website. You can even have the guy read it to you if you're busy doing other things. I tend to listen to it when I'm folding evaluation letters at work or opening mail. Both are mindless tasks that don't require me to focus so it's easy to do two things at once.

It's funny...I've looked through quite a few blogs on the blogger site- everyone seems to have some sort of area of expertise that they post about regularly, some hobby, craft, talent...just something. My blog is literally about what I am thinking about when I write it. I am terrible at planning things out. I like to do things off the top of my head. Maybe that could be how my blog is unique- it's not planned out, it's not really edited. It's just me being me. What you see is what you get. :)

I have a gut feeling that I'm going to get called in for jury duty next week. I hope that I'm wrong. So far, I've only been "on call" which means I don't have to report, but... I don't know. This week just feels different. I will check Friday after 5:15 like I'm supposed to. Hopefully it will still just say on call, but I have a feeling I'm going to be scheduled to show up.

You know what's funny? I would love to be a juror. There are so many bad people out there, and I'm so ready to listen and if they are bad, I am putting their butts away. I just am so so so apprehensive about driving to Scranton. I believe I've mentioned before how much I hate driving. Yeah, that hasn't changed. lol

So, what else is new? Not much. My grandma is still not doing well. She's been moved from the hospital to White Cliff Nursing Home. She has a Dr.'s appointment today, so they'll find out if the chemo stopped the cancer from growing at all. The Dr.'s aren't optimistic, but you never know. I've been praying a lot and I know that God does answer prayers. :)

On the road again

It's Christmas time! Woohoo!

Tonight we are leaving North Eastern Pennsylvania and headed out to... North Western Pennsylvania! I'm very excited to see my mom, dad, sister (with her family), as well as both of my grandma's, and all my aunts and uncles. My brother isn't able to make it out. We're all kind of disappointed, but he works as a corrections officer and just couldn't get the time off.

So, although I am really excited to see everyone, I'm also a little sad, because my grandma was recently diagnosed with Lymphoma (a type of cancer) and I know she's not feeling very well. My mom has also been worn out by this. It's taken its toll on my family, however, I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to see everyone.

If we leave here around 12:00 we should arrive at home between 4:15 and 4:30 am. Whew. That's going to be a very late bedtime. Hubby is so good about staying up- it doesn't even bother him. I can't say the same for me. It's quite a struggle to stay up that late. Especially since it's pitch black out and there's nothing to look around at! lol I will do the best I can.

So, hubby and I went to a concert last weekend and I can't tell you how great it was! We had an amazing time and were so blessed to meet the group Joey + Rory. They were so good live and at the meet and greet were kind and friendly- just like your neighbors might be. We had our picture taken with them, they signed a poster as well as a CD for us, and we just had a wonderful evening. If you get the chance to see them, please do! (I should probably mention that it would better if you like country music. lol)

Their tour bus


Scott and I with Joey + Rory

We had a large time.

So, in other news...well, let's see.

We had our Christmas party at work. I made a Cracker Barrel-style hashbrown casserole, doubled the batch, and still went home with nothing left over. I'll take that as a good sign.

Hmm...I didn't cook a whole lot this week and I'm trying now to even remember what the heck it was we had to eat.

I made chicken with sauce from a wing place "Quaker Steak and Lube". The sauce is called "Louisiana Lickers" and if you ever have the opportunity to go to a Quaker Steak, by all means, try that sauce. It's my favorite! I do believe they have several spread out in states other than Pennsylvania, so you might have one nearby. I grew up about 20 miles away from the original location in Sharon, PA.

My friend Kristin got me a glass milk bottle for Christmas. She knew I'd been looking for one and here's the fun part. It's from Jamestown, PA. That probably doesn't mean much to you, but it's about 5 miles from where I grew up. Somehow, out of all the milk bottles that were there, that one ended up in her hot little hands, a good 4 1/2- 5 hours away from its original location. Funny how God works little things like that out, isn't it?

Well, I believe that's about all for right now.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2 8-14

Check out this video called "Remember Me"

May God bless you all. A very Merry Christmas from my home to yours.

Wish list for Christmas

Hello there,

It's been quite awhile since I've thought to write anything down here. It's not that I haven't had anything to write about. In fact, lots of things, both good and bad, have taken place over the last month. I just...wasn't sure how to put them down. Do you ever get like that? Sometimes it's hard for me to verbalize what I'm feeling. Sorry for not including you. I hope you don't feel left out.

I left work early today, sick. I'm feeling a little better now, but still not quite "right". I hope that will go away with a good night's sleep.

Do you have most of your Christmas shopping done? I think we have just about everything we need, with the exception of like 5 gifts. Considering we have to buy for 29 people, that's a good chunk of it done!

I got some great deals on Black Friday online. I wasn't about to rush into the crowds in the actual malls and stores. Yuck. That's kind of my definition of a terrible time. I got 4 sweaters from Christopher and Banks. 1 was 9.99 and the others were 14.99. I was pretty pleased!


In no particular order, here are the things I would love to have for Christmas:

1. More time with my husband
2. A pretty party dress and a fun event to wear it to
3. Democrats and Republicans to get along and realize they NEED to
4. A closer relationship with God
5. Adam-12 and Dragnet on DVD
6. Good news about both of my grandmas
7. A relaxing vacation with just my husband and myself.
8. A part time job so that I could spend more time taking care of my husband and my home.
9. A car that is less than 5 years old. (Our current cars are 16 years old...each.)
10. Get involved in some kind of women's group in the evenings so I'm not sitting at home alone every night.

There shouldn't be any real shockers on the list. I'm pretty predictable.

Till next time, blog friends...hopefully it will be sooner rather than later!!

Allergies, Snow, and Joey + Rory

Well, let's lead right off with the allergies since they seem to have come up first. They've been bad. Quite bad. A lot. But that's okay. They won't last forever.

They won't, right? Tell me they won't.


It snowed here yesterday! A glorious snow with great big flakes and about 3 inches of accumulation. I really liked it. I suppose in the middle of January or so, snow becomes tiring, but up until then, I find it nostalgic, romantic, and something to look forward to. I don't necessarily look forward to driving in it, but hey. I'll take the bad with the good.

Lastly, let us take a gander at my new flavor of the month in music: "Joey + Rory". If you are a fan of country music, please give one of their tunes a listen! They are Christian folks, married, and have an older country sound.

Two of my favorites:

"This song's for you"

"That's important to me"

You gals might find "That's important to me" mighty endearing. I know I do.


So, what's happening in this household? Not a whole lot. I cleaned out a bunch of old books that I don't really ever plan on reading again. I just need to find a couple boxes to put them in so we can take them down to Salvation Army and donate them.

I am using our desktop computer- something I haven't done for a long time. I feel so disconnected from everything else when I'm up here. That can be nice at times, but I tend to lose track of time faster up here. Also, the space bar on the keyboard squeaks. It's kind of distracting.

You know, I'm not so much in the mood to write tonight, but I did want to update my poor little blog. I feel like I've been neglecting it lately. Sometimes I just don't have a whole lot going on. My life is pretty routine- I'm okay with that, but it doesn't make for riveting reading. lol

I hope you're all doing well. If you ever have anything you want to ask, feel free. I know I don't have a huge readership, but any questions are welcome. :)

May God bless you!

A time for everything

Hello all,

I hope that you're having a good week so far. Mine hasn't been too bad, all considering.

I'm looking forward to this weekend- my husband and I are going on a 3 hour train ride on Saturday. The excursion isn't very long- only from Catawissa, PA to Northumberland, PA and back. However, we both enjoy going on train excursions and the fall leaves ought to be beautiful. I hope we will have a nice day, but I think whether it's sunny or rainy, we will still have a good time.

If I get any nice camera shots of the train or while on the train, I will feature them in a blog post. :)

One of the girls in my office is celebrating her birthday today. We will go out as a department for lunch to help her celbrate her special day. Yum! Mexican food!

Over the past few weeks, it seems as though it's been one thing after another- and as a result, my poor house has suffered. I really need to make a plan on how to get it back on track. Right now the dust is so thick on some of the shelves in our living room and in our bedroom, I might be able to collect it and start a small fire. Yuck! In addition, our living room carpet needs swept badly, my clothes need to be changed from spring/summer to fall/winter, my shoes need straightened, the kichen could use a good scrubbing, and for that matter, so could the bathroom. Whew! I am tired just thinking about all of that. If you have any tips on how to get motivated, I'd love to see them.

One thing that I am happy about this year- we bought some curtains for our bedroom. Are they pretty, frilly, and beautiful? No. They are not. They are thick, dark and not very attractive. However, they were made to be functional! These are energy saving curtains that are supposed to cut down on those winter drafts that our upstairs windows seem to have a lot of. We always put the plastic up on them every year, but hubby thought it might be a good idea to get the energy saving curtains, too. I think it's a great idea and I hope they help! :)

I'm please that all of our decorations have been up and displayed since about the 5th of September. I love coming home to a nicely decorated home. It makes things a little more pleasant. Do you decorate for fall?

I used to have a lot of decorations for both Halloween and Thanksgiving, but lately I've only put up more generic "fall" stuff and then added some turkeys when November was close by. Halloween has just fallen out of fashion for me. I'm not interested in it any more.

Thank you for stopping by. I'm glad you were here to visit!

God bless you!

Mandy