Things I Need..........

This:




Because my hair is turning this color:




I have an appointment at 8 am, thank GOD. Because I'm SURE, if I ever let it see the light of day, my grey hair wouldn't look as beauteous as the silvery grey in the photo you see here!


I also need to go and get some hair product like THIS:







And most definitely like THIS:






And maybe I should try a little of THIS:







What the heck, right?

Right.


Then I need to bop on over to a bookstore and get THIS for a wedding shower gift:



Great book, people. I highly recommend it.

Anyway. That's what's on the agenda today. Plus a wedding. And some weeding. In the garden.

I'm going to treat myself to reading 3 blogs before I hop in the shower. Ooooo! What a treat! I don't know which ones yet.....Heather J? Kim? Tracey? The Tattered Nest????

Well.....I've been such a good girl. Maybe I can read three this morning and 3 more this evening?

Yeah.

Been A While!

Wow.

Things have been busy around here.

School's out, and I started a work project which has me leaving the house at 7 am and coming home at 6pm. That, plus evening activities have kept us really busy.

Of course, nothing is happening in the kitchen department, but that's why I'm working! Mama needs a new floor and countertop.

My Mom started being a granny nanny for the Noodle, but then my cousin's twin 18 year old girls were more than happy to take over, so they've been taking excellent care of my Noodle.


My going back to work for 5 weeks has been tough on her. I leave before she gets up and on Tuesday, my Mom took her to Schmackie's ball game, so I was asleep before she got home. By Thursday it was melt-down city, baybee. Luckily, we only work 1/2 day on Friday, so I got home and we snuggled up for a nap.

I miss reading my favorite blogs, but I will be able to read them again in a few weeks! Right now we have enough stuff going on with housework, graduation parties, weddings and bridal showers.

I hope all my friends are doing well......Kim, Heather J, Janelle, Penny and Amy, to name a few!

Oh - typing this is sheer agony, as well. I chop-chopped my finger. It's gross and it hurts. I shaved off about 1/4 of my left pointer fingernail with a very sharp Sankotu knife. So now I'm done typing for a bit :)

So Think You Can Dance...........

Has anybody watched this show? The Noodle and I got hooked last year - Oh my gosh, it's such a great show!!! It started a couple of weeks ago and last night the Noodle and I camped out on the sofa and watched. SO GREAT!

In other news....I got this CD a couple of weeks ago:


I saw her on SNL singing a track from this CD. I thought it was a cute, fun song, so I bought the CD. I like it. It's a fun, frivolous little album. HOWEVER....she swears quite a bit in there. Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but she says "mother %$#@" a couple of times.

Now, we all know I have that Noodle-y sidekick, right? She loves this CD. In the car, I can press the mute button on my steering column to omit the offending word. So I do that and it seems fine. I've noticed a LOT of things fly right over her innocent little head.

Or so I thought.

Well, we had just gotten home after running some errands and I was unlocking the door and Noodle said, "Mom! She says some bad words in her songs!!"

I just hung my head, bit my lip, winced a little and said, "Yes, I know. I wish she wouldn't, but that doesn't mean we need to sing those words or say words like that. It doesn't sound nice, does it?"

Noodle: "No, it doesn't. I can't believe she says one word. It's really bad, Mom."

Me: Oh crap. OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmyGOD!! I knew I shouldn't have let her listen to it. What was I thinking?? "Ummmmm, which bad word are you talking about?"

Noodle: "Mom! Didn't you hear it??? She says STUPID a LOT!!"

Whew. I think I will accidentally "lose" that CD and get High School Musical instead.

Oh! We went to my nephew's baseball game on Tuesday. Of course I forgot my camera. Argh. But here's a picture of him at Christmas:

Anyway, he made the most AWESOME double play!!!!!!! I am the proudest Auntie. He was pitching and caught the hit. The player who was on first base started running to second base and Schmackie (my nephew) threw the ball to his first basemen and got that runner out!
For a 3rd grader to have the presence of mind to catch the ball and immediately think about throwing it to the 1st baseman.....well....it boggles my mind. Zuddy and I made SUCH a noise cheering that Schmackie looked over at us with such surprise! We were freaking out, screaming and carrying on. I can't wait until next week!

What else? Oh, I went to the Doctor and he increased my current dosage. I thought I was at the maximum dosage, but it turns out I was at half the max. So this is day two on the increased dosage and I'm starting to feel good again! Yea! I was starting to avoid phone calls and e-mails and wanting to sleep all of the time. And most of all?? No interest in reading blogs!

THAT'S when I knew I needed help! Ha haaaaa!

Oh! I'm planning on going on a little Segway tour with friends from work! Has anyone ever ridden on one? I haven't and I CAN'T WAIT!!! I saw an article in Cottage Living magazine about fun things to do when visiting Minneapolis. Well, there's nothing like being a tourist in your own city, right? Now we need to figure out a date. Then we can all invite another friend or two! WooHoo!!

Have a great day!

Yummy Burgers

Dudes.

Last night I made some kickin' burgers for dinner. We really don't make burgers here too much. I think they're kind of ho-hum.

Except for McDonald's cheeseburgers. Love those.

So here's what I did:

1 lb. ground beef (I bought it from the farmer's market. Grass-fed and pastured)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion (I didn't measure. It was 1/2 of a small onion)
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley (again - I just threw some in)
Worchestershire sauce - a couple of squirts. Don't overdo it, though.
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1-2 tablespoons Kraft horseradish sauce.

Just mix it all together with your clean paws and form into 4 patties.
I grilled them for about 4 minutes on each side. The last 2 minutes of grilling, I grilled the buns, cut side-down.

You can hardly taste the horseradish sauce in there, but it really gives it that extra something. These burgers are so flavorful that I just ate one with nothing on it - no condiments!! And I'm a girl who loves condiments :)

I hope you try it and like it!

I can't wait!!!! Tonight I'm going to my nephew's baseball game. He's in the 3rd grade right now, and I know it doesn't sound exciting, but I can't believe how much we all enjoy his games. He is really good and so are his teammates! I'll take pictures.

Well, I have a doctor's appt. The ol' Zoloft has lost it's effectiveness, friends. I'm worried about trying something new, especially since I start working next week, but hopefully my awesome doctor can get it right for me. Wish me luck.

Have a great day! It is absolutely gorgeous here today!

Sweet Angel is Three!

I can't believe it! My niece, Sweet Angel (not her real name :) Is three!! Isn't she cute? That face is a girl's version of my brother and the hair? Courtesy of her Mommy. She had her birthday party yesterday and it was all Shrek, bay-bee. My Brother and Sis-in-law treated everyone to Shrek 3 at the theater, isn't that nice? It was a really fun party.

Especially because we sent the Noodle to the movie and then Zuddy and I went on a date. Of course, our idea of a fun date is walking through a certain warehouse-type store. I'm not naming names. Because the parent company is the epitome of Evil.....at least that's what I keep reading about them.

Other than that, not much is going on. I spent 3 full days weeding the garden. I don't know which weed it was that decided to explode in there, but it was so thick with weeds that it took me forever and I'm still not done. THEN?? On Saturday we had a massive hail storm and it pelted my garden!! Here are a couple of pictures:



This poor coleus never even made it into the garden :(






I love this plant. It's called False Indigo and those spires had a bunch of sweet-pea-like blooms. It still looks okay, but it's lost a lot of petals.




Poor Hostas!


On the kitchen-front, I used the 3 to 1 vinegar solution to strip wallpaper. It works pretty well, but you know what wallpaper really wants to help it detach from the wall?

Hot water.

In the form of steam.

Yup. Kim was right all along (of course). I was really trying to avoid buying the steamer. I know it's only $40, but it's not at the tippity-top of my list of desired ways to spend my money. Ya know what I'm sayin'? Mmmm hmmm. I knew you would.

I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday....so many nummies! Remember, this is Minnesota, so there hasn't been much growing yet and my CSA wasn't starting delivery until the 13th of June. Well....we've gotten some much-needed rain so the CSA is delivering this week instead and the Farmer's Market had peas! We had them for dinner last night and didn't even bother to steam them. We also got radishes, some lettuces, and I bought some meat. It was excellent.

So, today I'm cleaning. This place is a wreck.

Hope you have a great day :)