September Acres

Yes, the calendar says it's fall but in Arizona it still feels like summer. It is supposed to be 103 today. Saturday it is 'only' supposed to be 97. Yippee. I love looking at all the fall-like things on other blogs. The fresh picked apples for applesauce. The changing leaves. The pumpkins. I have gotten out all my Halloween decor and will post some pictures soon. I have some fall things I still need to get out. Hopefully this will all get me in the fall mood. But I have to say it's just not the same making applesauce from the apples found at the grocery store. Come Saturday though, I just may do it to try and get in the 'mood'. That and a crock pot full of chili may do the trick. My treadmill is calling me so I must run...

Oh yes, I am STILL beating that dead horse. I open my daughter's folder she brings home from school and I see a flyer saying that Monday (tomorrow) will be the start of the Fall PTA fundraiser. Nice that it coincides with the Girl Scout one. Let's just call it 'How to lose all your friends and family in 10 days'. I am loving the idea that Laurie says their school is doing this year for a fundraiser: a walkathon. Love it!! I will probably bring it up to the PTA president and see what she thinks. Let's end this craziness already! It has been a good weekend but I am kind of glad it's Sunday night. I feel like I was fairly productive this weekend which is a change for me. I usually get most of my 'work' done during the week and take it easy on the weekends. My husband was gone most of the day Saturday putting faucets in at my parents house so when my daughter's friend went home on Saturday after the sleepover I did some things around here which I think ...

Yes, I just love to beat a dead horse. I was going through the fundraising stuff for my daughter's Daisy Scout troop and noticed that the items they are selling (nuts, chocolate, etc) will each net $1 for the troop. So, the cranberry nut medley (which looks yummy but I need like a hole in the head) costs $5 with $1 going to the troop. Now wouldn't it be better for the troop to get the whole $15 if I just wrote a check for $15 to them? Something to think about I guess. I considered getting the nuts for gifts but we just don't have a ton of gifts to get this year. When cookie time rolls around I know it will be a different deal. Oh, I need cookies like a hole in the head, too. My daughter is being super sassy tonight. She didn't feel well last night so didn't sleep great and then was up at about 5:30. I think she is tired but it doesn't make it any better. Her friend L is spending the night and up until a few minutes ago she was being a crab to her, too....

Tonight I made meatloaf for dinner. We were all dying for something different, something 'fall-like'. It is just too hot in the summer to cook in the oven so we do alot of grilling. Yummy as it is sometimes you just need some 'comfort food'. Now it was about 106 today but it is officially fall so I made meatloaf. It was yum-o and I think my family really enjoyed it. I have a super quick and easy 'recipe' - about 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, one pack of onion soup mix and one egg. That's it. Easy peasy . I also made sweet potatoes (one sweet potato in the microwave for about 6 min, remove skin, mash with butter and brown sugar) and mashed ( Idohoan package - too much sodium but oh so quick and yummy). Two potatoes you ask? Isn't that too much starch ? Why yes it is but Little Miss doesn't like white potatoes (yea!) and my husband won't eat sweet potatoes unless they are adorned with marshmallows. We also had steamed broccoli. Tomorrow Little Miss is h...

I am so excited to see the Fall TV season finally start. Last night I planted myself in front of the TV to watch the new CBS sitcoms. Good thing Little Miss goes to be early. I really love 'The Big Bang Theory'. You could probably hear me laughing from across the country. When it started last year I wasn't totally thrilled with it but after the 3rd episode or so it just clicked. 'How I Met Your Mother' & 'Two and a half Men' were funny as always. 'Worst Week' was the worst show - perfect name. It looked silly on the commercials but the show was even worse. Thankfully it follows 'Two and a half Men' - that may be it's saving grace. Or maybe next week it will be better. We'll see. I am looking forward to 'The New Adventures of Old Christine' - another show I LOVE. My husband doesn't like it as much but watches along with me. Oh, another new show is 'Gary Unmarried' which looks like it won't be...

it shouldn't be made out of polyester. Love that. It was the page on my calendar today for Sept. 22. (Life's Little Instruction Calendar Volume XIII). My husband and I went to Vegas over the weekend. We went to see Donny & Marie for my birthday. He was a little less than thrilled but ended up having a great time (of course). We had great seats and at one point Donny and Marie came out into the audience, each taking a side of the showroom. Marie took our side (my luck!) and came over to our table. She looked at my husband and his bald head, smiled and started rubbing it - THEN gave him a big kiss on it. After the show he said 'I wonder if there is lipstick on my head?" And sure enough, there it was - Marie Osmond's lipstick on my husband's head. Of course I took a picture and there it is - a little hard to see but if you look closely you can make it out. The show was really good. They are quite the entertainers. They did a little of their old st...

Last night there was an open house at my daughter's school. I haven't been in her classroom much so it was nice to go in and see what was going on. My husband has only been there once before school started so he really enjoyed seeing what they have been up to. The open house was from 6:30-8 which coincided with Christmas play practice which was from 6-7:30. So we rushed over to school after practice (it's only about 5 minutes but in a rush is seems longer). We got there at about 7:40 and as it turns out it was perfect timing as we were the only ones there. We had plenty of time to talk to the teacher which is hard to do when 5 other parents are clamoring for their attention. It was a really nice (short) evening. I am now on the 'Site Based Council' at our school. This council meets about once a month and discusses how $ should be spent. Right up my alley!! The money involved is called 'tax credit' money. In AZ you can donate $400 (married filing jointly) o...

These are the cards I made on Tuesday. I like the crab one for Christmas. I like to use non-traditional colors sometimes and thought this looked cute. This card I made for my daughter's friend who is having her birthday party next weekend. I thought the colors looked really girly. Of course, Little Miss likes the crab card better so I will do one next week for a birthday using the same colors, switching out the Santa hat for a birthday hat. I'll save the pink one for another time. So, I think I am off to a good start for the Christmas cards and gifts. I won't make all my Christmas cards as I bought some last year at 75% off so I want to use those. I will make the extras though. I have to work on my Christmas list and figure out what needs to be made- probably not a whole lot so it should be pretty easy going. I have to got through my 'gift box' too to see what is in there. I am always surprised to find more than I thought I had. :)

My cousin emailed me a bunch of political pics the other day and I loved this one. We are big hockey fans (by 'we' I really mean my husband but after 10 years I haved learned to go with the flow and enjoy it all winter- some of fall and spring, too) The movie "Miracle" was a great movie, hockey lover or not. So I love this portrayal of Sarah Palin with it's hockey/miracle theme. That being said, I am ready for these candidates to get on with the issues already. I just read Laurie's post about being crazy busy. I think we all must be feeling that way now. Maybe it's the start of school and all that goes with it (homework, schedules, fundraising- already). I have to say that my daughter's homework is not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. It may be because alot of it is review - although this week they have started some new things - yippee. They have a little take home book to read each night (test on Thurs or Fri), spelling on Tuesday night ...

My daughter & I hit Lowe's on Saturday for some grout (long story for another day) and came home with this cute door mat and the little black cat. I had it all sitting by the front door to put in my 'Halloween' box for my October 1st Halloween decorating. I went to the garage to do some things and come back to see these things at the threshold to the playroom. The little orange cat is from one of those claw/ stuffed animal game machines. Later on Sat. we had a Halloween party - that's why the table and notebook were in front of the door. I had to sign in to go to the party - like a guest book. She cut apples to dip in peanut butter and we had water. It was all quite cute and fun. My daughter signed the dog in too, but after the dog tried to eat our food (what a surprise) she was escorted out of the room and her name was crossed off the guest list. My husband was out of town over the weekend and missed all this fun! Thursday my daughter starts play rehearsal...

as seen through the eyes of a first grader. Apparently, this is no longer 'fashionable'. But this is. Paired with something black, of course. I know I am old fashioned. I still think that you should dress nicely to go to church, a wedding or a funeral. I don't think you should wear 'logo' t-shirts for your school picture. I think a man should wear a collared shirt on the golf course. Whites for playing tennis. No white shoes after Labor Day or before Memorial Day. A slip is usually required for a skirt or dress. I should have been born a generation or two before I was. I could go on but will spare anyone still reading. How different things are now. And how quickly little Miss has caught on. She has a small fortune worth of Hanna Andersson clothing hanging in her closet. All cute and colorful. Lots of which she is rejecting now because it isn't 'fashionable'. I think have a looonnnggg road ahead of me...

on that morning of September 11, 2001? As our parent's generation remembers exactly what they were doing when John F. Kennedy was assassinated & we remember where we were during the Challenger disaster, we all will have forever etched in our minds what we were doing on that fateful morning 7 years ago. I remember sitting on the coffee table (bad habit) watching ABC news replaying the first tower being hit. My first thoughts (as this was very early on, before anyone really knew what was going on) were that this was a horrible accident. My wildest imagination could not have thought up what we would eventually learn to be the truth. As I was watching the first tower fall, a second plane crashed into the second tower. Now the world knew that this surely was no 'accident'. As the days went on, we all learned the horrible truth and would be forever changed as a nation. As Americans. Seven years later, many still wonder 'why' & 'how' this could ha...

Today I had my 6 month check up at the dentist. I love my hygenist and truly enjoy going to the dentist (sick, I know). Well, today I understood why people hate to go. Ouch. She was killing me. So I asked her: "Is it just me, or was today painful? Are my teeth more sensitive because I am getting older?" Hygentist: "No, it's because you're a woman. It's hormonal." Me: "Excuse me?" H: "At certain times of the month our teeth are more sensitive." Me: "Well that explains it." Who knew?

So, have you seen " How Clean is Your House?" Oh my, is all I can say. WHERE do these people come from? The synic in me says they are actors and their 'home' is a set. But I think it's one of those things you can't even make up it's so bad. The family (yes, young children involved here) on the show I saw today had not cleaned their home in 10 years. Can you even imagine?? It is really hard to watch the show sometimes since all I keep thinking is that I should be cleaning my house! I try to keep to a cleaning schedule around here but sometimes it's hard. Of course there are the daily things: Wipe down kitchen and bath surfaces after each meal. Put dishes in the dishwasher or wash them by hand. For all my faults, the one thing we don't have is dishes stacked in the sink. It just grosses me out. "Swiffer" the tile - we have a dog which means lots of dog fur so it's best to do it daily. Put shoes/coats away. Make beds - alth...

Stop by and see Colleen at Baby Makes Five and check out her Fall giveaway! Don't you just love that witch?? Kind of puts me in the fall mood (even though it will be 106 today! ) Have a good one!

or a Pub? Take a gander at some of the lunch offerings in our school district this month. Nachcos w/ cheese sauce (read: tortilla chips, cheese whiz & a spoonful of ground beef) Cheeseburger Hot Dog Pepperoni Pizza Corn Dogs Sloppy Joes (the worst thing they serve, by far) Frito Taco Salad (same as nachos but with a little iceberg lettuce) What next, a keg set up next to the milk and juice? Thankfully, my daughter has not wanted to buy much this year. In defense of the school they do offer cold sandwiches along with the pub food as well as a 'shaker' salad each day. I didn't buy much when I was in school either (but I really wanted to) but I remember Pizza day being a HUGE deal & I don't remember any of this other stuff. I guess times have changed in 20 (or more) years. All that being said, I know there are many children who get their only meals at school & I am thankful that they have the opportunity to partake on the school lunch program. I wonder th...

Conversation this afternoon while looking at the Costume Express catalog: Little Miss: I want to be Sharpay (from High School Musical) for Halloween. Me: That's nice but what about this (to the right) Cheerleader outfit from High School Musical? LM: No, that's SO last summer. Me: (trying not to laugh) Let's talk to dad when he gets home and see what he thinks. Excuse me? Where do they get this? I just don't run around saying that. TV, maybe? Why of course. Check e-bay soon for a TV for sale...

There IS a difference between Cheetos and Cheezits. Thank you Laurie & The Rockin' Wife for pointing this out. The pictures on the previous post were from the internet. The acutal food I served is to the left. My husband would rather starve to death than eat baked Cheetos. I am not eager to start blogging about politics however, I am looking forward to watching Sarah Palin this evening at the convention. I am still a little in shock about McCain selecting her but I am getting used to the idea. I think I hadn't really been paying a ton of attention to the election and it just took me by surprise. I have heard many people say good things about her and I have to trust John McCain's judgment (he is our senator here in AZ). So we'll see what happens tonight. Our scrapbook store closed in Jan so I have been getting supplies on line, from Stampin' Up or when we go out of town. We have a stamping store in town and I finally went there today before I went to...

Does it really matter? Apparently to the picky Petes in my house it does. Yesterday I was making lunch for my husband and little Miss. I made him a 'sammy'(as Rachael Ray would say) and cheetos. So I asked little Miss if she would like Cheezits with her sammy and she said yes. I meant to say Cheetos (she should know that, right?) So I put the Cheetos on the plate and she says "I thought you were giving me Cheezits". So after a short discussion out came the Cheezits. But I just kept thinking - does it really matter - aren't they pretty much the same? Apparently, not...

home improvements for a long time. Whose idea was it to put the laminate flooring in the play room?? Everyone we know, plus all the ads, say how easy these things are to install. Well, how do I put this nicely? Hmm - They lie!! Or we are REALLY incompetent. Oh my gosh - 2 days later it is complete. We started Sat at about 10:30am and worked until about 5:30. We finished all but 1 1/2 rows. Had to go to Lowe's & Home Depot on Sunday and started the floor about noon'ish. We finished at about 4. We also put new baseboards on as the others (original to the 25 yr old house) were trashed. I had planned on painting them but just couldn't see putting anything in such bad condition back on. The new baseboards are very lovely. The whole room looks good but if we ever decide to install laminate flooring again we will hire someone to do it - unless our friends who think it's easy could do it for us... Today we are taking it easy. And I am cleaning for our company tonight. ...