Movin' to the Beach

Soon to be our new home town. (Love the boat full of snow by the sign, don't you?)

We're moving. Thought I'd post a couple pictures of our recent packing escapades.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it's far simpler to NOT ask the resident teenager to lend a hand with anything at all than it is to actually extract a bit of work from said teenager?

This is Marissa helping to pack:
It took two of us to pull her butt out of the box. Seriously...it was her butt that was the problem. It's a big ol' butt and gravity was working against us. Once we got her out of the box, she disappeared. That's okay, I have a revenge in mind (keep reading).

You see, we really have our work cut out for us. This is just one stack of boxes yet to fill:



After hours of moving heavy furniture, carrying, lifting, dragging, packing everything he could, hubby took a break for a few. Soxxy immediately decided to crush his arm and pin him to the couch. Roy called me to see what was causing the tingling sensation in his arm. Really. He deserves the moniker Fatty McFatCat:



Had some things to do regarding the house and we popped down to Crystal Beach for a quick visit while we were there. Here's how Lake Erie looks today:
Sure, it looks cold in this picture, but it really doesn't come close to describing how cold it really was. We were out of the car all of five minutes before we just could not take it any longer! I'd say there's a 20 degree drop in temp right on the water, and there was a -18c windchill off the water. Just chilled us to the bone in short order and the bitingly cold wind took our breath away!

How windy was it, you ask?

Does that answer your question?

Now, the thing with having very textured hair is that hair really holds whatever style you put to it and very well. Let's see what this blow job did for Miss Marissa once she got out of the wind....

HOLY!

I probably won't post again till we're all settled into our new digs ... so check back in about a month. Right now, I need to go change my daughter's facebook profile picture.... (yes, I am that evil.)

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I am Loving My Rice Cooker!

My mother-in-law got me this rice cooker for Christmas and as a self-proclaimed lazy cook, I LOVE IT! The steamer basket that fits into it lets me fix a whole meal in this thing with little prep, no standing and watching, no stirring, no sticking, no burning!

Tonight's menu is Spanish Rice with steamed chicken breasts.

I diced some green and red peppers, sautéd them in the rice cooker with a bit of unsaturated margarine while I rinsed my brown rice (1.5 c dry) and measured the vegetable juice and beef broth (combined 3 cups). Then I seasoned my skinless boneless chicken breast halves (3) with my own Mexican seasoning mix. I lay several strips of green and red peppers on the steamer basket, and placed the seasoned chicken breasts on top. I stirred the sautéing peppers-- still slightly crispy, but the juices had been released to flavour the rice . I added dehydrated onion flakes (I cheat sometimes.) I added the rinsed brown rice and the vegetable juice-beef broth mixture. Then I placed the steamer basket with the chicken breasts and pepper strips on top. Pushed down the cook button and walked away. Twenty minutes later, the breasts were done, but the rice needed to cook longer. (I with there were a longer cook time option for us brown rice users!) Removed the steamer basket, placed the lid on the rice and pressed the cook button back down (after a quick stir. Old habits die hard!)

Dinner prep was less than 5 minutes. That works for me!

As for my Mexican seasoning mix, I mix a large batch of this at a time and use for seasoning taco meat, refried beans for burritos, or as above, chicken breasts.

Mexican Seasoning Mix

1/3 cup minced dried onion
1/4 cup dried Parsley
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (our own organic, homegrown)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (again, our organic homegrown)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I'm not THAT good yet ;) )

That's enough for one recipe of taco meat, however you'll want to add a thickener such as cornstarch.

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One Giant Suck

Oh, that's a Canadian term, by the way. I think the American equivalent would be "Big Pathetic Baby." I was taken aback when first I heard it. Now I use it all the time.

This, gentle readers, is the perfect example of a GIANT SUCK:

Soxxy strikes this pose whenever he smells meat being carved, served, cut up, cooked, dined upon, etc. Tonight it was beef. If it were chicken, Soxxy would have rolled completely onto his back, splayed his legs and given us the biggest mooniest eyes one could ever see. Fish will have him pawing the table. The table TOP! He really is big.

Soxxy is our 20-pound cat. He wasn't always 20 pounds. When I went back to the states for a 3-week visit in '07, he gained a LOT of weight. A LOT. Hubby works 12-hour shifts and he'd fill Soxxy's bowl in the morning, then fill it again in the evening. Soxxy had a very big bowl. Soxxy cleaned his bowl every time it was filled. Soxxy didn't go outside and play much during those 13 hours hubby was away. Soxxy lazed about most days. For three whole weeks. I've had him on a diet since and he's gone from 24 pounds to 18 pounds and then he bounces around a bit in between. When I have foster cats, it's hard to keep Soxxy underfed as he cleans their bowls. When Soxxy leaves the house he visits all the homes of people who have soft spots for strays and he eats the food they leave on their porches for the strays. (I tell them not to feed Soxxy, but they love him so they do. Food is not love!) Soxxy checks the neighbour's cats' bowls every day, a few times a day, just in case those cats might have forgotten something. Soxxy catches birds. He doesn't just play with them. He eats them. Soxxy sits at my 9-year-old's feet in the morning hoping he'll get to lick the last drops of milk from said 9-year-old's cereal bowl. (Of course he gets to. My 9-year-old's a softie!) Soxxy lays in the pose pictured above in the hopes of getting a treat. Soxxy doesn't get treats anymore. Poor Soxxy. Or as I have come to call him, Fatty McFatCat. Hubby calls him Fat Lazy Oaf. My 9 year old is concerned that we might be hurting Soxxy's feelings. My 9-year-old calls him Soxxy. And he sits with him and talks to him in the gentlest of voices, telling Mr. McFatCat that we don't really think he's fat. (Yes we do.) That he's not really fat at all, he's just a big cat. (He's a big, fat cat.)

Now you learned something new and you don't have to be flabbergasted when you hear someone or something called a 'suck' in Canada.

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No Shopping for Three Months

When a fellow frugalite mentioned doing this last fall at frugal shopper's forums, I jumped right on the bandwagon. The 3-months shopping embargo was inspired by this story of a group of women who banned shopping for an entire year. Another blogger has established a 2-month shopping embargo and that has spawned a facebook event group, which I joined, of course!

What it entails
No unnecessary new purchases will be made by anyone in my household for the next 3 months. So we're still buying groceries (using lists and menus) and necessities. That's it. No scooping up the 85% off Christmas clearance stuff. No grabbing this that or the other just because it's there and a good deal. Just what we need. Nothing else that's new. We can, however, purchase used. Which, when you have growing children, clothing purchases are often necessary as they sprout overnight! There is a wonderful consignment shop down the road from me from which I purchase the majority of my boys' clothes. (I also sell a lot to the store, myself!)

My goal: just to not spend outside of necessities. It's not that my spending is out of control, it's that I just want to scale back. I'm trying to clear my home of the excesses as it is. How many times have a bought an item because it was a bargain only to find it unused months later? Too many.

I'll report my progress here and the results of my own 3-month-long shopping embargo.

Anyone else doing this?

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Six Random Things About Me

That British Woman strikes again! You can thank Gil for these six random things about me:

1) I have had 550 stitches in my face and head at one time and over a thousand after the facial reconstructive surgery that restored my face as close to its natural state as possible. Thanks to a brilliant plastic surgeon, I am not a monster.

2) I can still spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious thanks to a 2nd grade contest for which I won a kite and a box of sweet-hearts.

3) I once did a face-plant in a diving competition held at a lake in Texas and was so embarrassed by my frog-legged face flop that I swam as deep as I could and completely freaked out the rest of the divers, judges, and announcers all of whom were lined up on the edge of the dock anxiously awaiting my resurfacing. (What can I say...I was 16 and mortified. There was a guy I liked in the audience!)

4) I'm a night owl, but manage a regular schedule because I must. Whenever the mood strikes me, I will be wide awake at 2a.m though. I have been known to go to bed with the kiddies and get up at 4am, too. Once you have children the best hours of the day are the wee hours of the morning when you've had a full night's rest and the kids are still sleeping . . .

5) I tend to read a couple books at once. I've been doing this since University and no, I don't confuse the plot lines or characters at all.

6) I'm a natural messy on the outside with an anal-retentive organizer on the inside. You might see piles on every surface in my home, but my cupboards and closets are quite organized. *shrug* (Some people cram their mess into closets, I choose not to hide mine & keep my closets tidy!)

Now -- YOU are tagged! It's your turn!

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Christmas Trees: The Good, The Bad, The Far Out and the Wickedly Ugly

I personally like eclectic, personal trees. Take ours, for example -- ornaments from the kids for the past 17 years, some lights, some garland, a topper and that's our tree. The folks who entered the World Wide Christmas Tree Contest lean towards themes and...well...take a look for yourselves...

In the My Kids Are Going to Need Decades of Therapy Anyway category, we have: I have no idea what all is going on in this scene (these scenes?)


What happens when a poinsettia vomits in your living room? And what is with the crown of fake golden prairie grass sprouting out of the top of the tree?


Poinsettias and bows and what the hell, let's just put out every single Christmas decoration we own and place them on this one side of the room.

And if you really want your kids to have nightmares, just impale Santa to the middle of the tree with a weird fake floral arrangement.

WTF????


Again -- WTF???


And now for something completely different (I like different, unless I make sarcastic remarks in the captions):


I don't know either, but I like it!


Kinda cool.


I like it. I do!


Good use of wall space. Only problem I can see with it is storage when not in use.



I think there's a white tree underneath.

Finally! It's a tree and a place to put all those blasted Christmas Knick-Knacks that build up over the years!


My daughter would LOVE this!

I think I really like non-tree trees.


And in the category of You Just Had to Screw it up, Didn't You? These trees would have been fine if they had just stopped before . . .
...the damned ramp. What the hell is that, anyway?

...the extraordinarily wide purple ribbon.

...putting all that crap all around this perfect little tree. What's with the beer, anyway? Nothing says Christmas like a beer under the tree...

...adding the carousel horse to the stripper's pole. Come on, I'm all for turning the stripper pole that's installed in the living room into a festive Christmas "tree", but the horse just doesn't do it for me.

...ramming the tree upside down into it's base. Is that a wall-eye coming out of the "top" of the tree?

...shoving the silver coloured twigs into the top of the tree. What's with that?


Some classic trees I really like, despite the lack of personalization:






I just wanna hug it!

I love this upside-down tree. Having cats and kittens in our home most every holiday, this idea really appeals to me!




And a couple more on the Wrecktacular Side of things:
This is like the twig tree that I liked, except this one's on acid.

A dentist's Christmas nightmare.

Maybe it's the only way to cover up the crap-mountain in the living room.

Not only is it anorexic, but it's red and black!

I'm not sure there's even a tree under there!


Nothing says "redneck" like a bubble jug Christmas tree.

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Christmas Getting to Know You

Because I'm just *that* bored . . . (and I haven't posted in awhile)

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Brown paper wrapping that's compostable, re-usable gift bags & santa sacks.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial....for some reason the annual tree slaughter bothers me. Though real is more environmentally friendly. Before I switch to real (if ever I do) I'll figure out a way to recycle this puppy.

3. When do you put up the tree? Hubby puts the tree up. If it were left up to me, it'd probably get put up sometime around New Year's. Yes, I procrastinate tedious jobs like no one else. Yes, I find putting up a tree tedious.

4. When do you take the tree down? Hubby generally takes it down right after the New Year. Especially if cats or kittens are in the house.

5. Do you like eggnog? I don't mind it once a year...but I'd rather have my own homemade much lighter version.

6. Favourite gift received as a child? I never received a Christmas gift as a child. Though as far as gifts..probably the diamond necklace & ring my father gave to me. I'd still like to know who stole those, though I still think I know.

7. Hardest person to buy for? This year, my daugher.

8. Easiest person to buy for? The littlest kids....

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, but I neither believe it's a depiction of a historical event, nor do I place any religious significance on the scene. Ours is a beautiful hand-carved 30-some piece scene that my husband's uncle made just for us. For that simple reason it will always be featured in our home during the holidays.


10. Mail or email Christmas cards. Email this year. Canada post is scam. If I can't cross the border to mail them, they'll get emailed.


11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I guess lavendar lotions as that's how I learned I'm allergic to lavendar.

12. Favourite Christmas Movie? Can't say that I have one.

13. When do you start shopping? January, February...whenever I start seeing deals to sock away for the next holiday.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I haven't regifted one, but I know a few have been freecycled.

15. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies...fudge. If I can talk him into making them, DH's Nanaimo Bars.

16. Lights on the tree? I haven't the foggiest.

17. Favourite Christmas song? Cartman's O Holy Night.

18, Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. This is immediate family time.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, donder, blitzen, Cartman, Kyle, Oh wow I think my allergy/sinus pills just kicked in. . .

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I really really don't like angels. It's a star or a spire.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One for the kiddies on Christmas eve all the rest are opened THROUGHOUT the day on Christmas.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Just about all of it except for the family togetherness with the kids & hubby. The shopping, the presents, the decorating, the messes, the cooking and cleaning, the marketing, the CHRISTians, the anti-Christians, shoppers, shopping, marketing, stores, traffic, stores, insane drivers, stores, dumbass gifts showing up in every damn store and on every damned streetcorner....it's all annoying.

23. Favourite ornament theme or color? Blue & silver theme.

24. Favourite for Christmas dinner? Really don't do much for Christmas dinner. Busy eating chocolate letters & playing with the kids (new toys lol!)



25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I'd really like a kitchen aid mixer or a digital camera to replace the broken one....but that's not gonna happen. It's moisturizer, socks & mugs for me.

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