Thursday, January 28, 2010

Friday Fragments


Mrs. 4444, from Half-Past Kissing Time, hosts Friday Fragments each week.    Musings, ideas, photos of flowers and a pet peeve - it's all in here this week!  Thank goodness it's fragment day.  Whew.  I wasn't sure I could keep it all in this week.  Please visit Mrs. 4444's Fragmented post so you can find even more fragmented posters like me.



My cousin is going to a wedding this weekend.  Her friend is the groom and his last name is Deal.  The bride's last name is Good.   So they are going to the Good-Deal wedding.  Cute, huh?



I've been scraping together money to put into my rental condo accounts to pay the bills this month and the upcoming because I've got two of my units unoccupied.  My law of attraction mantra is "I get checks in the mail."  I am truly amazed how often checks come in the mail - sometimes, I have to admit, the check is for a quarter and I have to sign up for something in order to get it, but still, it's a check...even if I don't cash it!  Today, however, I got a check in the mail that was from one of our condo mortgage companies.  It was an escrow refund that was enough to cover one of the mortgages this month.   I get checks in the mail!


Pet Peeve - I dislike pumping my own gas, I really do.  I used to go out of my way when I lived in Lansing, MI to go to the Bay station because there was no self service there - and it was the same price as self service at other places.  Those guys would check your oil and wash the windows.  But anyway, back to my pet peeve.  I really dislike the gas pumps that slow down to a mere trickle if someone on the other side of the pump is also trying to get gas.  As soon as the one person is done the gas flows like mad for the remaining person.  I've actually stopped and allowed the other person to finish before I put any more gas into my vehicle because it's going to take less time to go one at a time.  Most gas stations don't have that problem, but every time I go to one that runs like that, I make a mental note to never ever go back.



I do dishes just so - I wash them by hand, even though I have a working dishwasher, I stack them like a puzzle in the dish drainer and I clean off all of the counters.  I lay my towels out to dry and I make sure the sink is clean.  It's probably an obsession.  When I get up in the morning, as I'm making my breakfast, I put away the dishes and the kitchen is ready for the day.

Speaking of dishes - I made meatloaf the other day and forgot to fill a sink full of hot soapy water before I began. It's just a rule of mine that doing dishes as you cook makes for an easier clean up, but I was already involved in meatloaf making so I didn't fret too much about it.  I put the meatloaf in the oven, set the timer and washed up the dishes.  I kind of laughed when I realized that my clean up (even though I didn't fill the sink before starting dinner) took me less than 5 minutes.


I received some really great book suggestions from last week's FF - I want to Thank You.  I haven't started reading any of the books suggested, because they are for my trip, but I did read reviews and look up each book.  I think there are at least three books that I will be buying for my Kindle.




I promised to post some sunny photos for those with cold toes and/or cold weather.  I hope you have enjoyed the flowers I found today on the Mayo Clinic campus.  I was quite surprised to find these bushes filled with flowers, as the cold weather we've had has killed off a lot of plants.  I guess these are hardy!



Are you looking for some Valentines Day treats?  I found this recipe while stumbling the other day -- I'd say it would be pretty sinful.  The photos are excellent, too!  Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles.

One Pretty Thing had a really nice Valentine Round-up.  There are printables, kids school printable valentines, stained glass box instructions and many others.  Take a peek!  Oh, here's a Kid Specific printable Round-up also from One Pretty Thing.

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

15 comments:

Ruth Ann said...

Love your Friday Fragments! It's funny because I hate pumping gas too, and realize that when it trickles it's because someone else is pumping on the other side! It seems like every time I go to Sheetz it takes forever to pump gas! I turned to my husband who was sitting beside me and asked if that was true and he said yes and he explained to me how it worked....and thought I was crazy because I didn't already know that! I learn soo much from you from how to have a crispy salad to when to pump my gas! I love your blog! lol

debi9kids said...

Beautiful flowers! thanks! (it's COLD here!)

I hate pumping my own gas. I grew up in NJ, where NO ONE pumps their own gas. (it's illegal). Now we've moved to PA, where i have to. gasp

Hate it. LOL

Lydia said...

Really fun post! Great flower shots, too. We have tiny crocus blooms popping up in our front border. It's really too early for spring and it seems strange, very strange.

In Oregon it is against the law to pump your own gas!! I am so spoiled and truly have forgotten how to do it myself. When I took a road trip alone to Nevada a couple years ago I ran into the mini mart and begged the guy to leave his checkstand to come help me. He couldn't, of course, so I followed his instructions...and still got gas all down the side of my car. It's a messy job, and I like the fact that here it is someone's job to do it. (They don't check oil automatically, though.)

Formerly known as Frau said...

Love your fragments...and the flowers so pretty...I need to go back and see were you live cause those flowers surly aren't in Michigan! I hate pumping gas to I use to wait until I was totally on empty and beg my hubby to fill it!Have a wonderful weekend.

annies home said...

sounds like it will be a great marriage how can it not be after all it is a good deal. If I were the bride I would keep my maiden name but also take his name so my name would me Mrs. Good Deal.

Stacy Uncorked said...

I hate pumping my own gas, too - especially when the pump slows down when someone else is pumping from the other side.

The Good-Deal wedding...hilarious! :)

I do dishes 'just so', too - it's an art to stack them on the dish drainer so they'll all fit. And I'm one that cleans as I go during cooking, too - on the extremely rare occasions that hubby offers to cook, I cringe at the disaster the kitchen turns out to be. He's not very good at washing the dishes when he's done - I usually have to wash them again. ;)

Those flowers are gorgeous! :)

Eternal Lizdom said...

Good-Deal... that's classic!!

I'm so with you on that trickle slow gas pump thing. Drives me NUTS!

brainella said...

Are those camelias? They are beautiful.

You know, I don't mind pumping gas. Well, when it's cold I do but in general I like it better than washing the windows or vacuuming the car!

Anonymous said...

love all the flowers ((hugs)) .. and the wedding name good-deal - too funny. i'm too blah from lack of sunshine to think of any witty comments. have a fun weekend!!

Kara @ His, Hers and Ours said...

Those camellia are gorgeous! We have two bushes in our yard. One with deep pink, and the other with light pink. They are some of my favorite flowers!

I guess I'm the odd man out. I actually don't mind pumping gas, and get paranoid if I get lower than 1/4 tank. And I had no idea it was illegal to do it in New Jersey and Oregon! The things you learn!

Love the Good-Deal wedding! Classic!

Happy Friday to you!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

The flowers are so pretty. I use to drive around too looking for a place where they waited on me. Then at some point I had to pump myself and kind of enjoy it!

Claudya Martinez said...

I never noticed the slow gas issue. I'll have to start paying attention.

Mrs4444 said...

I hate that slow-gas thing, too.

The flowers....wow! They're not only beautiful, but they also made me feel a little warmer (it's below zero windchill here right now).

Love the wedding name. Does she plan to hyphenate?!

I'm happy for you for he check. If you get an extras, send 'em my way, will you?

mub said...

The Good-Deal thing is cracking me up. I hope they have a great marriage!

I hate going to the gas station period. Luckily for me that's not an issue here *L*

I hope you can get some new tenants in your properties ASAP... then even more checks can come for you ;) I gotta say, I LOVE the baking system here. Checks don't exist at all. I wish transferring money in the US was so easy.

Nancy C said...

In college, my roommate was from Oregon, which has a law requiring attendants to pump gas. She griped about how much she hated pumping gas all the time. Don't blame her. It's not my favorite either, especially on cold days.