Hot Hot Hot

Have you ever wanted to serve a hot sauce and a mild sauce and had to come up with a creative way to mark the "hotness?"

My Mother, Aunt and Uncle and I were all trying to figure out what to tape on the bowl of the cocktail sauce that was extra hot. We were thinking about a fun Panic button, or just a piece of paper that said "HOT." My Uncle opened up a drawer in the kitchen for the scissors, I think, and there was a box of matches.

VIOLA!

We'll tape some matches to the side of the bowl.

It was a great idea and an EASY identifier for the hot cocktail sauce. The peel and eat shrimp was really good, too!

Hope you can use this idea for your HOT STUFF this summer.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Straws

My Favorite Drinking Straws

I really like to drink from straws. I drink a lot of water and water just seems to go down so much easier and with less spillage if I can drink with a straw.

My favorite straws are the thick plastic straws. Not the throw away ones. They are hard, will never bend and are sold at fine retail stores such as Target and Pottery Barn.

I found a set of 6 straws at Target two years ago in the summer picnic section of the store. They were these really nice clear straws with Aqua colored dots on them. They are very nice, although I always wanted the opening to be a bit larger.

Today while I was wandering through Pottery Barn at the St. John's Town Center (a really cool shopping adventure!) I spotted a set of 10 straws in the clearance section of the Summer area. I don't understand why there is a summer clearance section already -- it is only the 20th of June. I know it's a hundred degrees here in Florida, but it doesn't seem like summer should be on clearance already...but I digress.

The Pottery Barn straws have a larger interior but are also longer. This is great, because I usually drink my water out of a 32 ounce cup and the shorter straws barely made it to the rim of the cup.

If you bite into one of these hard plastic straws, they don't bend or break and I have yet to see teeth marks in them.

I just love these straws. Now that I have a 16 of them, I think I'll be set for the next 20 years.

This should really be a Works for Me Wednesday post... because these straws do work for me!

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Cat paws

I love to look at kitty paws. I like to touch them, too, but as soon as I touch Mocha's paws, she tucks them up under her, or she gets up in total disgust.

The little pads are so squishy lol Mocha is an indoor cat, so her pads are pretty soft.

I know the picture only shows three paws & the tip of her tail - but I assure you, she has all four of her precious paws.

Have a great day!
Kristin

867-5309

This is the Top 100 songs of the 80's as compiled by VH1.
I watched this tonight - Well, I've watched three episodes so far, but with all of the crazy dorky dancing I've doing and the singing into the remote control, I'm guessing I'll finish watching the marathon.

Two hours later, I'm just now beginning the last 20.

Pour Some Sugar On Me was my favorite song in 1988... I remember telling my sisters that I was going to buy the music video of the song, because I loved it so much. Instead I bought the cassette single. My friend Steve was at a research center near Kalamazoo, MI and I went to see him for the afternoon - I had that single in the car. I played it ten times if I played it once. That song literally made my heart beat faster. I know it's totally sexual, but I don't care. lol I love it. I'm so glad it was #2.

OK, the marathon is over. I'm tired and totally full of 80's nostalgia. I'm going to end up dreaming about proms, music, dances, old flames, and nights on the town. I'm looking forward to it!

Here you go - Here's VH1's Top 100 songs (as voted on by VH1 fans) of the 1980's.

Have a great day!
Kristin



1. Bon Jovi / "Livin' on a Prayer" 1986
2. Def Leppard / "Pour Some Sugar On Me" 1987
3. Duran Duran / "Hungry Like the Wolf" 1982
4. Michael Jackson / "Billie Jean" 1982
5. Prince / "When Doves Cry" 1984
6. Hall & Oates / "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" 1981
7. Guns N' Roses / "Sweet Child O' Mine" 1987
8. Madonna / "Like a Virgin" 1984
9. Run-D.M.C. / "Walk This Way" 1986
10. AC/DC / "You Shook Me All Night Long" 1980
11. Journey / "Don't Stop Believin'" 1981
12. Whitney Houston / "How Will I Know" 1985
13. U2 / "With Or Without You" 1987
14. The Bangles / "Walk Like an Egyptian" 1987
15. Van Halen / "Jump" 1984
16. INXS / "Need You Tonight" 1987
17. Whitesnake / "Here I Go Again" 1987
18. Dexy's Midnight Runners / "Come On Eileen" 1982
19. Cyndi Lauper / "Time after Time" 1984
20. Rick Springfield / "Jessie's Girl" 1981
21. Michael Jackson / "Beat It" 1982
22. The Cure / "Just Like Heaven" 1987
23. Cyndi Lauper / "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" 1984
24. A-Ha / "Take On Me" 1985
25. Go-Go's / "Our Lips Are Sealed" 1981
26. Guns N' Roses / "Welcome to the Jungle" 1987
27. Kajagoogoo / "Too Shy" 1983
28. Wham! / "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" 1984
29. Talking Heads / "Burning Down the House" 1983
30. Pat Benatar / "Love is a Battlefield" 1983
31. Queen and David Bowie / "Under Pressure" 1981
32. Night Ranger / "Sister Christian" 1983
33. Soft Cell / "Tainted Love" 1981
34. Poison / "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" 1988
35. Phil Collins / "In the Air Tonight" 1981
36. Tommy Tutone / "867-5309 / Jenny" 1981
37. Aerosmith / "Janie's Got a Gun" 1989
38. U2 / "Pride (In the Name of Love)" 1984
39. Modern English / "I Melt With You" 1982
40. The B-52's / "Love Shack" 1989
41. Motley Crue / "Dr. Feelgood" 1989
42. The Clash / "London Calling" 1982
43. ABC / "Look of Love (Part One)" 1982
44. Bananarama / "Cruel Summer" 1984
45. Janet Jackson / "Nasty" 1986
46. The Police / "Every Breath You Take" 1983
47. Twisted Sister / "We're Not Gonna Take It" 1984
48. Bruce Springsteen / "Born in the U.S.A." 1984
49. Beastie Boys / "Fight For Your Right (to Party)" 1986
50. Eurythmics / "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" 1983
51. Ratt / "Round and Round" 1984
52. Dead or Alive / "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" 1985
53. Billy Idol / "White Wedding" 1982
54. Salt-N-Pepa / "Push It" 1987
55. A Flock of Seagulls / "I Ran (So Far Away)" 1982
56. Bonnie Tyler / "Total Eclipse of the Heart" 1983
57. Toni Basil / "Mickey" 1982
58. Culture Club / "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" 1982
59. John Mellencamp / "Jack & Diane" 1982
60. Young M.C. / "Bust a Move"1989
61. Styx / "Mr. Roboto" 1983
62. Berlin / "Take My Breath Away" 1986
63. Devo / "Whip It" 1980
64. Paula Abdul / "Straight Up" 1988
65. Foreigner / "I Want to Know What Love Is" 1984
66. Depeche Mode / "Just Can't Get Enough" 1981
67. REO Speedwagon / "Keep On Loving You" 1980
68. Public Enemy / "Fight the Power" 1989
69. R.E.M / "It's The End of the World As We Know It" 1987
70. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts/ "I Love Rock N' Roll" 1981
71. Rick James / "Super Freak" 1981
72. The Fixx / "One Thing Leads to Another" 1983
73. Nena / "99 Luftbaloons" 1984
74. George Michael / "Faith" 1987
75. Prince / "Little Red Corvette" 1983
76. Thomas Dolby / "She Blinded Me With Science" 1982
77. New Edition / "Candy Girl" 1983
78. Blondie / "Call Me" 1980
79. Human League / "Don't You Want Me?" 1981
80. Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock / "It Takes Two" 1988
81. Cameo / "Word Up!" 1986
82. Squeeze / "Tempted" 1981
83. Prince / "Kiss" 1986
84. Lionel Richie / "All Night Long (All Night)" 1983
85. Robert Palmer / "Addicted to Love" 1986
86. Bow Wow Wow / "I Want Candy" 1982
87. Falco / "Rock Me Amadeus" 1985
88. Chaka Khan / "Ain't Nobody" 1983
89. The Pretenders / "Brass in Pocket" 1980
90. Tone-Loc / "Wild Thing" 1989
91. Katrina and The Waves / "Walking On Sunshine" 1985
92. New Kids on the Block / "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" 1988
93. Gary Numan / "Cars" 1980
94. The Rolling Stones / "Start Me Up" 1981
95. Debbie Gibson / "Only in My Dreams" 1987
96. Men at Work / "Down Under" 1981
97. The Romantics / "What I Like About You" 1980
98. Bobby Brown / "My Perogative" 1988
99. Wang Chung / "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" 1986
100. Loverboy / "Working for the Weekend" 1981

WFMW - Binder Clips

My tip this week is one that is just a great idea - quick and easy. No glue, staples, tape or ribbons. Just a few binder clips and a picture, calendar, business card or card that you want to display. Here's how I came up with the idea.

My sister sent me a calendar that had pictures of my niece for each month. I didn't have a place to hang it properly, so I made a stand for it. The calendar now has a permanent home on my entertainment center shelving.




The binder clips I used in this picture are some "fancy ones" but the regular black binder clips would work just as well.

The nice thing about the binder clips is that they go over the spiral binder of the calendar.


The smaller binder clips can hold up a business card to read, to keep in sight, etc. I used a drink card here to show you, but I love that you can use these binder clips to use as a stand so quickly and easily.


Leave a comment if you'd like & be sure to check out Rocks in My Dryer for more tips and tricks from other folks. It's one of my favorite days - Works for me Wednesdays.

I hope you have a great day!
Kristin

More Road Trip pics

I was on my way home from my trip to Michigan when I stopped at this particular rest area in Georgia.



I thought this was fun.



I didn't realize that the town and the stew were connected.
I am not sure if I have ever had this stew, but I haven certainly heard of it.



Have a great day!
Kristin

The cell phone

I took my husband to the airport today.

Allegiant Air flies from Sanford, FL to Lansing, MI - straight shot. It's great. However, it takes a few hours to drive down to Sanford.

In order to make it worth my while, I get a Caffeine Free Diet Coke for the drive. Oooh, I'm dangerous.

This means having to stop several times at rest areas.

One of my rest area stops handed me quite a dilemma.

I found a cell phone in the bathroom.
In a stall.
I chose a different stall.
Before I closed the door to the stall I chose,
I went back to the stall with the phone and grabbed the phone.

While I was washing my hands, the phone buzzed...Two new email messages.

Oh boy
What to do?

Do I leave it? Put it back in the stall? Pretend I didn't see it? Wait for someone else to do something? Take it with me? (Is that stealing?) oh goodness. I was at a total loss.

I looked for a lost and found, there wasn't one - and honestly, I wasn't going to leave it there.

So I did the only thing I could do - I played with the phone to find the address book. I hated doing it though. I felt like a snoop. Like I was totally violating this persons space. But then again, how else was I going to get this back to the right person? I looked for the contact, "me" or "me at home" "husband" or the fabulous - "Mom" or "Dad"

I found "me" so I dialed that and got her voice mail. Click. Not listening to her voice mail!!
La la la not listening!

I clicked through more contacts and found "Mom and Dad" together! Cool.

I called - I think Dad answered... "Hello! I found this phone in a rest area and am assuming it's your daughters. Would you happen to know if she is traveling today on I-95?"

Yes she is, thank you so much, she's with her husband in the car and they are traveling to N. Carolina. His name is Jaime, I bet he's in the contact list, you can call him.

I gave him my phone number, just in case, said Thank You and hung up.

I was giggling. This is just so weird to be calling random people!

So I called the Jaime contact and got this weird message and I hung up. (Chicken)

A few minutes later, the new cell phone rang, it was Jaime's phone.

A very very confused girl said hello and I said "Is this the owner of this phone number?" she said yes and I explained how I got Jaime's number. I asked what mile marker they were passing and determined that they had another rest area just a few miles ahead of them, where they could stop and I could meet them and return their phone.

I was just about 10 miles behind them.

They called - they were at the rest area.

I arrived and met the cutest couple. They had a baby about 7 months old. Cute cute cute. They were very grateful and so was I.

I don't think I could handle the responsibility of having someone elses phone for longer than the 25 minutes that I did have it.

I'm just so happy that the issue was resolved so quickly and it was a nice outcome.

I realized today on my way home, after the "drop" that this really wasn't a random act. It was a specific act of kindness. I specifically wanted to help the person that lost the phone - but I'll file it under random anyway.

Have a great day!

Kristin

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!!

Here are some of my favorite photo's that I have. I haven't gotten any pictures scanned of the years between three years old (My age) and 40!

These are my parents - 1965 is the date? I think that's it. Either just before or just after they were married. I love my dad's funny face.

This is at the base - KI Sawyer AFB. That's me in the middle.


This is my Dad in uniform. I love the image on the TV in the background. I've always wondered who that is.


This is Dad, aka grandpa with Zora 2007.
(Zora is my Niece)

Hope you have a great day today Dad.

Love, Kristin

Baseboards

I cleaned the baseboards in the bathroom.

The one really nice thing about the new condo that we are living in, is that the baseboards are 5½" high and painted a lovely bright white.


In my other houses the baseboards were either small or just plain yucky. That's the technical term...yucky.

In fact, in the last house we sold, I had painted the walls and didn't cover the baseboards because my dear husband said that we were going to replace them...soon. Three years later, I spent several days of scrubbing the paint off in order to make them fairly presentable to the potential new owner. Goof Off was the chemical of choice to get that accomplished. An easier alternative would have been to have a wet towel with me while painting and wipe off the paint as I went...silly me.


(in this picture I notice that the painters didn't do an incredible job -- but nothing like having a magnifying glass on the baseboards LOL - I would have never noticed)


In an effort to honor the nice baseboards that I actually like and notice, I've been trying to keep up with the cleaning of them. The rest of the house gets the vacuum treatment - but the bathroom is just not as easy to clean with the vacuum.

I got out my microfiber cloths and some hot water and washed away. I used an old toothbrush in the corners and I even cleaned the water shut off valve behind the toilet! WOW.

The bathroom looks real nice now. It didn't look bad before, but I could see a lot of dusty fuzz. I did however find enough fur to make a whole cat behind the freestanding cabinet I have in the bathroom. I had never really thought about moving it before. I will think of it again a little bit sooner.

RLS

Restless Leg Syndrome

My husband has this. From what I understand it is fairly rare in men. Women have this much more often. It is so annoying for both of us. He's had it for the past 4 or 5 years now and he takes Mirapex for it, but all of a sudden the Mirapex isn't working as well. He's been having troubles in the late evenings long before bedtime.

RLS is a condition where it feels like you need to move your legs because they itch, feel creepy crawly or instinctually you try to "shake off" the sensation.

The spouse of a RLS sufferer can be affected by it as well, as I was last night.

My husband can usually fall asleep after taking Mirapex and can sleep through the little spasms that his legs go through in the night. He doesn't feel a thing. However, on the other side of the bed the sensation is as though a baseball bat is coming down hard on the bed and shaking it.

At irregular intervals.

For hours.

pound
pound pound
pause
pause
pau pound
pound
pause
pause

etc.

The pounding wakes me up. If I am drifting off to sleep it jars me awake. Last night I was so sleepy, so very sleepy. I thought I would just fall asleep no matter what.

I was wrong. After a restless two hours... I finally went into the guest bedroom and slept there.

I hate to do that, only because if my husband wakes up, he is afraid something is wrong if I'm not in bed. I don't want to worry him. I got over that that last night -- and he never noticed I was gone.

Usually the RLS ends around 5am. Not sure why, but it does. So I came back to bed about 5:30.

Slept like a Rock. That is the phrase that comes to mind. I slept so solid from 5:30 to 8:30 that I thought I had just come to bed.

He's leaving on vacation for a week - I always look forward to his time away and now with the RLS acting up so much lately, I am mostly looking forward to a full nights sleep!

I posted this, not to complain really, but to make people aware of the condition. I had no idea what was going on with my husband when this weird "pounding" started. I used to shake him awake and ask him to stop. He had no idea what I was talking about at that time. Gradually though the sensations started earlier in the evening and he started noticing the spasms. It was only after a sleep clinic visit where it was diagnosed. The sleep visit was scheduled for a totally different reason, having to do with his upcoming liver transplant, but in the process we found the RLS.

Normally the Mirapex works wonders, so we are going to have to go have a chat with someone to see what's going on. It might also be a phase.

Here's to a good nights sleep!
Kristin

Thyme Time

I purchased a package of Thyme yesterday and it is now lost.

I find that quite ironic.

I'm always losing time I thought I had

But I had never lost Thyme before.


Have a Great Weekend!
Kristin

Pop Goes My Heart

I needed to hear this song.

I have got it so embedded into my brain that I truly believe that it did indeed come out in 1984. I can remember dancing to it at the high school dance, singing in the car with my best friend and rollerskating to it at Roller World. OK, so I didn't really but its funny how that type of thing happens.



Have you seen this? It is from the movie Music and Lyrics with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. I have now seen this movie about 20 times. Usually I have it playing in the background when I am cleaning, doing laundry, dishes, etc. But I know almost every line.

I googled "pop goes my heart" and a video of this came up that had an interesting addition. It had two or three clips of Hugh Grant dancing, taken from the movie Love Actually which isn't Music and Lyrics and has nothing to do with that movie, except that Hugh Grant is in both.... But I adore Love Actually as well.

I just checked out the video again - the person who loaded it said that he made it for a friend of his, so that could explain why a different movie was put into it. If you want to see that video I have it below.






If you haven't seen Music and Lyrics go ahead and rent it, watch it on cable, record it on the DVR, put it on the list for Netflix - just watch it. It's a lot of fun, especially if you like 80's music.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Music & Rollercoasters

I found this video here at List of the Day

The wedding

This is a story about my Aunt Jane, as I got it - the condensed version.

Very condensed & hopefully fairly accurate.


Jane and Chuck wanted to get married.
They talked about it a bit and decided that it just couldn't happen right away, well, because who has the time! It would just have to wait.

Judy Siefker (I call her my neighbor, but I haven't lived across the street from her since 1984 LOL) and some of the other gals that Jane golfs with got wind of this dilemma and decided to plan Jane's wedding for her.

Judy said to Jane - How's next Thursday after golf?

and that's what happened.

May 8th, 2008.
On the golf course, with gale force winds and it was too cold for sandals, but it went off like a dream.

Jane's daughter, my cousin Amy, sent these pictures to me, as I was unable to attend the ceremony.



This is Jane and Judy. I'm assuming this is before the ceremony and after the golf game. Judy had a great time getting this all together, I can see it in her eyes.


I'm thinking that this is also before the ceremony. People are just getting the balloons tied to the carts and are lining up for the event.


This is Jane, aka, The Bride. She has had a custom made golf visor turned veil for the wedding. Amy, was this part of your veil? I'll edit when I get that correct.

Amy replied in the comments that the veil was orginally Jody's* then Amy used it with a different headpiece and now Jane has used it. How cool. Thanks Amy!

*Amy & Jody, children of Jane



Here is the procession of the golf carts. How fun!!


The Bridal cart has arrived at the site. Golf balls lined a path, although I only show a little of one side. Her bouquet was made of calle lilies and orange golf balls. What a hoot!


Here is part of the ceremony, I'm going to pretend it was the "I Do" part. The Groom, Chuck, is finally shown. That's him, the one holding the Brides hand.

Everyone was huddled together in this photo. From what I understand it was to keep warm. It was a chilly chilly night.

I hope to get more photos soon of this event. I saw the happy couple when I went to Michigan a few weeks ago and saw a lot more pictures. I'm very happy for them.

Congratulations Jane and Chuck!

WFMW Mopping the floor

I love a great product. Mostly I love a product that works as its supposed to and is easy to use. When I had my bamboo floors installed a few years ago I was given the Bona mop kit.



Oh be still my heart.

I love this product.

I love this product so much, that the other day I took a whole bunch of pictures of the steps taken to mop the Bona way.

Here we go!

Here is the mop handle and base. (and my floors)

This is the bottom side of the base -- the two strips are one half of the velcro.

This is the gorgeous, soft, fibrous, thick and thirsty removable mop cloth that velcro's right onto those two strips on the mop base.

Now here's the beauty. You just rinse the mop cloth under hot water. You can use a floor cleaner (my kit came with one) but I just use water. Hot water.


Then you wring out the mop cloth and place it on your mop base.

This is a dry cloth being placed on the mop base - I forgot to take a picture of it going on wet.


This is the wet cloth firmly placed on the mop base. Now go mop!

The mop cloth slides nicely on the floors - bamboo, wood, tile or any smooth surface safe for mopping. There is enough grip, to remove stubborn spots, but it still just soft as can be. I usually mop 10-20 strokes and then go rinse off the mop cloth and replace it on the mop base.

I have found a wonderful white fluffy duster also from Bona that goes onto my mop base. I love that, too. It picks up all kinds of debris from the floors.

I did find a lesser quality blue mop cloth - it has little bits of plastic in it. You can feel the rough plastic. It doesn't work. Don't buy it. It is cheaper, but it doesn't work. Buy the mop cloth that when you feel it, you could imagine sleeping on it. LOL

The mop cloth goes into the washer and dryer. I toss it in with my dishtowels. Don't use fabric softener on this load.

I love this product.

I love how my floors look.

I love how easy it is to mop.

Leave a comment if you'd like & be sure to check out Rocks in My Dryer for more tips and tricks from other folks. It's one of my favorite days - Works for me Wednesdays.

Have a great day!
Kristin

New picture!

I got my hair cut today. My stylist does such a good job. I look so well kept once every 8 weeks or so. So I've started taking a picture. Tomorrow I will have flyaway hair, the ends will stick straight out and I may even wear a barrette (but probably not tomorrow) but today, I wore make up, had my haircut and took a picture.

And here I am being Green! It's called Night Vision on the Photobucket effects tab. It actually looks real good.


Enjoy!!
Kristin

Photo Mosaic

I just spent the last hour playing with Flickr and a mosaic making site. I found it on the Blog Not Trying for a Boy. She found it on another site, who I'm sure found it somewhere else lol

Have some fun by trying out this photo mosaic....

If you want to play…here’s what you do.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s Mosaic Maker

Here are the questions:

1. Your first name.
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

Here's the one that I did.

I had to do some creative thinking for some of the questions, but I was surprised at what I found on the first page of my searches.




Enjoy!!

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Where I Live

Just the other day I mentioned the Listography book that my sister gave me. In that book is a section titled "List the places I've lived."

This has been a sticky issue between my husband and I because he always wants to move. He wants something bigger and better, or in a better location - sometimes just a different location, not necessarily better. Now that the market for housing is down, he wants to get out of our condo and get into a house real quick. He's been looking for a house just about since the day we moved into our condo and I've held him off for quite some time, but I'm not sure I can hold him off much longer. There are just so many great looking houses out there and the prices are fab!!

Anyway, back to the list.

I listed 16 places where I've lived. There were more. I moved a lot in Albuquerque, NM. I can't even remember all the places I lived. Those places where I stayed with other people & didn't consider it my residence, I didn't include. That was a really interesting time. Teenagers do the stupidest things.

So here we go!

Born in Marquette, MI - KI Sawyer Air Force base
Apartment in Holt, MI
Duplex in Lansing
My home in Lansing -- 2nd grade through HS graduation.
Dorm at UNM
Studio in Albuquerque, NM
2 BDR rental in Albuquerque, NM
Basement of parents house in E. Lansing
Apt of boyfriend, E. Lansing, MI
House of boyfriend/Fiance* (same as above) Okemos, MI
21 steps straight up to my rental Apt. Lansing, MI, just 2 blocks from The Goat.
2nd floor of house on Walnut St. Lansing, MI
The house that Tom** and I moved into together that was possessed, had a million frogs, a stock pond, etc. Bell Hwy, Eaton Rapids, MI.
The house that Tom designed and built on the lake in Coldwater, MI.
Spruce Creek Fly-In, Daytona Beach, FL
The 5th floor condo in Jacksonville, FL

Where in the world will I live next???

Have I mentioned how much I dislike moving? The last move, from Daytona to Jax was so chaotic that I am still sorting through boxes. Nothing was sorted. It was pretty much tossed into a box and loaded onto the truck.

Have a great day!
Kristin

*Never went to the alter
**Went to the alter LOL

The Rabbit

I was peeking through the blog of West Whim when I spotted this little gem.

The Rabbit

I hope you enjoy playing with him.

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

More on Walter

I posted about Walter, one of my tenants and a lung transplant patient a few weeks ago. When we last updated, he had taken a turn for the worse, but was still in the capable hands of the Mayo Clinic. Tom and I had gone up to see him in the hospital and he couldn't say a single word due to the tracheotomy.

Since that day, I have been working on the flips and took off 10 days to go to Michigan. Today while I was cleaning the condo they had rented from me, Walter and his wife, Liz stopped by. Walter got out of the hospital a week ago...so that was May 31st. He only had the trach in for two days he told me. I'm sure he willed himself to get better, just by having that thing in.

He looked amazing. He was breathing on his own. No mask, no canula, no tanks, no nothing. He has always talked fast but he seemed to be a bit slower, a bit more relaxed. It was good to see. I have been sending out the good vibes, prayers and good thoughts to him everyday, I'm glad I got a chance to see him.

Liz and Walter moved to a larger condo after he got his transplant so that family could stay with them. I would have prefered to have them stay in my unit, of course, but I'm also very happy to have had them for the 11 months that we did. I've got someone else moving in shortly. We decided, since we had some time, to rip up the carpet in that unit and put down a laminate floor. It was a good move, it looks great...and I bet it is going to be easier to clean, too.

So Walter is doing real well and it's all because someone was an organ donor. What a blessing.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Listography

My sister, Alison, got me this book (journal-type book) that is called Listography. She said that she knows how much I love to make lists and maybe this would be a fun book to fill in. The illustrations are a hoot, too.

When she gave it to me, I just casually flipped through it and looked at the pictures and some of the titles of the lists. It looked like something fun and I was excited to start coming up with things to fill the book, even though I still had no idea what it was all about. When I actually spent some time looking at it, I realized what the intention of the book was...

"Listography, the book, is designed to help you create your autobiography through list making."

What an absolutely cool idea!!

The very first list is "list the pets you've had and their names." There are a few of the usual suspects - list your favorite books, your favorite movies - but there are some really off the wall lists like, "List the ways you've changed since you were a teen," and "list the things people should remember you for," and "list your best purchases."

How fun!

I am so glad that Alison thought of me when she saw this book. I am going to fill up as much as possible. I'm not sure I can fill in each list section, though, there is just something incredibly personal about "list the strangest places you've had sex" and I honestly don't think I want that in my autobiography...even in a list!

Have a great day.

***Check out the website. You can post your lists online for free and you don't even have to buy the book. www.listography.com

Kristin

06-07-08

I love dates, and numbers and digital clocks.

I've posted how much I love the time 11:11, just to see it. Not to make a wish, but just to see it on the clock. Cheap Thrills!

Today is 06/07/08

What a great day!

I just checked the Mayan Calendar that my Mother gave me and it is White Rhythmic Dog, Tone 6. Not quite sure what that means, but I do know that Tone 6 is a day of organization. She (my mother) suggested that on Tone 6 days I should clean my house. It should just come more naturally on that day. Well, I cleaned and vacuumed and mopped and did laundry yesterday, on a Tone 5 day. It did get clean, but I had to force myself to get it done.

Today I will be cleaning (and hopefully finishing) the rental condo. I've been putting off finishing it for some reason. It should be easier today, right??

So, I'm thinking that 06-07-08 needs to have some kind of celebration. I wonder what I could do?

Tom's been asking for Banana Bread, maybe I can make him some in celebration of the 678.

Maybe I can find a house number of 678 and take a picture of it.

I could throw away 6 things in my house that are trash, take 7 things out of my house that can go to the garage and donate 8 things to the local Salvation Army drop off center.

(I'm all about getting stuff out of my house)

I could write 6 people a letter, post a comment on 7 blogs and create 8 posts for my own blog.

I feel a little like Meg Ryan & Tom Hanks in "You've Got Mail" when they are trying to figure out what her email friends online name, NY152, stands for and Tom's character comes up with all of these awful things like, 152 people that think he looks like a Clark Bar or 152 pock marks on his face. While she says sweet things like 152 people who thinks he looks like Clark Gable or he has 152 insights to her soul.

So back to 678.

I'm going to make this a fun day.

I'm going to try to find ways to make 6, 7 & 8 work into my day, just to be fun.

Enjoy your day!!
Kristin

The Afredsons

I managed to catch the three Alfredson girls on the couch all together. My sister hardly even had a chance to hold Stella, as the bundle of cuteness was being passed around from one outstretched arm to another. This was a real nice moment, a quiet moment.





We went to Clark Lake on Sunday night to hear Root Doctor play at the Beach Bar. Jim, Alison's husband, plays the organ in the band.




Hillary and Stella. This was taken at the Beach Bar. I like the braclets in the photograph.





My Aunt Marg spent most of the weekend in the kitchen cooking, chopping, slicing and hollowing out zucchini. She did manage to get her hands on Stella at some point during the graduation party.

Swinging

I asked Zora if I could take pictures of her while she was swinging.

This is what I got.







She was very tired of swinging with her head down at this point and finally looked up! What a great face!

Have a swinging day.
Kristin

On the Road (Hazzards)

While on the drive home I saw some interesting things. I took a lot of pictures of barns and farmland, but this was one of the most unusual finds.

The red truck was towing the white truck. The light yellow lettering on the back of the white truck said -

In Tow
Guatemala or bust


This was a road hazzard, even on the road at the rest stop. They pulled over and I passed them before they even got on the highway. I'm glad because I didn't want to know how fast this partnership could go.

I wonder if they really were going to drive all the way to Guatemala?






This guy had his feet out of the passenger side window for a very long time -- swinging them, holding them up real high and then letting them crash to the side of the door. He obviously doesn't own that van or he wouldn't be denting the door like that!



I finally did pass them, when they took an exit, and the guy in the front seat was almost laying down, but not quite. It looked incredibly uncomfortable. I guess he didn't think so.



Have a safe drive!
Kristin