WEEK IN REVIEW

Monday it was hot.

Tuesday it was hot.

Wednesday it was hot.

Should I really keep on going.  We've exceeded 100 degrees every day this week.

My poor air conditioning unit keeps on running.

My electric bill keeps on climbing.

I'm going to have to take on a part time job just to pay it.

Today is the dance recital for my nieces. 

Tonight is the Nigel Dupree Band playing at Worth Harley Davidson.

We got a hotel room so that we don't have to worry about driving and parking. 

And we'll have a shower close by.

I think we'll need it.

I'll post pictures tomorrow.

If I don't die from the heat.

MAGIC TUB & SHOWER CLEANER

The one household task that I hate the most is cleaning the bathroom.

I'm the only female in the house so you can imagine what the bathroom is like with all the testosterone that floats around in here.

So last night I was wasting time on Pinterest (one of my favorite activities) and I ran across a recipe for a home made bathroom cleaner.
 
1 part vinegar (I bought a gallon of cleaning vinegar at Walmart for $1.47)
1 part Blue Dawn dish washing soap (97 cents)
1 plastic bottle (I used an old one I had saved from another product so I consider that free)

What I read said to heat up the vinegar but since I was using a recycled bottle, I wasn't sure about putting a hot liquid into it so I skipped that part.

I added the 2 ingredients together, shook the bottle until they were well mixed then sprayed down the tub.  I have an insert in my bathroom so the walls and the tub are one piece.  I sprayed it all. 

I even sprayed the glass shower doors.

Then I left.

The Kid and I went to replace the broom that I just can't seem to find.  Can't figure out how I managed to lose a broom.

When we returned home about an hour later, I took a wash cloth and wiped down the tub then used the shower wand to rinse it out.

Presto!  Clean shower/tub!

It worked amazingly well.  And I didn't have to scrub so that was a huge plus since having shower doors makes it almost impossible to do. 

I also used the same mixture to clean the stove and it worked so well, I'll use it there in the future too.

The biggest plus to all of this was that there were no fumes!

FUN AT WORK

I have a co worker that leaves his reading glasses on his desk when he leaves.

That's a dangerous thing to do with me around.

Today I altered his glasses.

It was simple.  I just found some eyes on google, printed them out, cut them to fit his glasses and taped them into place.

Oh, and for a more interesting effect, I colored in the irises with a highlighter.

I wish I could be there when he gets in tomorrow to see his face.  I hope someone takes a picture for me.

I'll share if they do.

DALLAS IS BACK!!

Dooo do dooo, do do do do do do, do do do da da doooooooo!

That's how I sing the theme song to Dallas.

I'm so excited it's back. 

I remember watching old JR Ewing squash his opponents and his family members.  He stopped at nothing or no one to get what he wanted.

And how he's back in the saddle again, so to speak. 

I love the new story line.  I love the sexy actors.

I hate watching Sue Ellen talk.  I think Linda Gray has had so many face lifts, her lips are gone.

I hate JR's eye brows so much I challenge someone to tie him down, trim them, and mail me the clippings.

Not really.  I kid.

Not about how much I hate his eyebrows, just the tying him down part.

And Bobby Ewing.  I had a crush on Patrick Duffy when I was just a wee one watching the original Dallas.

Ok, so I wasn't a wee one.  I was an eensy bit older than that.

But I want to leave you with this:

Which of these houses is the true South Fork?

I HEART THIS VIDEO

Source: youtube.com via Jessica on Pinterest

POLITICS SCHMOLITICS

I do not often get very verbal about politics. 

I think of this like religion.  It's a personal thing.

But today I'm making an exception. 

An acquaintance posted a picture on Facebook that struck a bad chord with me.

  


My first thought is "Of course, we wish Obama could grow the economy as fast as he grows the debt."  We wish this just like we would like to be able to do it ourselves.  But just like me, Obama is not magic.

Then my second is "Why is it that people always want to blame the President?"  The president is not the ultimate power.  Our system of government is set up with a balance of power.

Why is no one is placing the blame on Congress?  I couldn't find many Congress-bashing Like-this-Facebook-if -you-agree pictures or posts.

I don't blame the republicans or the democrats. 

I blame them all.

I don't think Congress nor the President have our best interests at heart.  I truly believe it's all about business.  The old "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" comes to mind. 

People have been doing things this way since the beginning of time.

And I know it's never going to change.

I don't like to argue politics but I wanted to make this point.

I also want to point out that I know it's everyone's personal choice as to what they post on Facebook.  I have no ill thoughts toward the acquaintance that posted the picture. 

But if we're going to post things laying the blame of the state of our country somewhere, let's put it where it's due. 

EASY CREAMY RANCH PORK CHOPS

 

These have to be one of the easiest pork chops I have ever made.

I place 4 pork chops into the crock pot.  I used bone in pork chops but in hind sight I think boneless would have been better.  The pork chops get so tender, they fall off the bones.

To the crock pot, I added a 10.75 ounce can of cream of chicken soup.  I suppose you could use cream of some other soup but I prefer this one.

Then I added the powder contents of 1 packet of ranch dressing mix. 

That's it.  

I turned the crock pot on low and left it alone for about 6 hours. That's all there was to it.

I mashed some potatoes and used the sauce from the crock pot as the gravy.

I also made some collard greens fried with bacon but they turned out prettier than they tasted.  This is one item I need to do some research on and find a better recipe.

 I love simple Sunday meals.  This would also make for a good weekday meal that would be ready by the time you got home from work. 

Oh, and for dessert, we had the cake I baked yesterday.  I made a Berry Blue Jello Cake.  I think I prefer the strawberry jello better but I wanted something a little different for a change.

It is as yummy as it looks.

Be jealous.

SUNDAY NIGHT BLUES

I use this to help keep my sheets smelling fresh. I just learned about this product a few weeks ago when I asked a colleague of mine what perfume she was wearing.  She said she doesn't wear any, it's the scent from her Unstopables. So now I've added this to my laundry regime to help keep that clean sheet night lasting for the entire week.

I get the Sunday night blues about this time every week.

It's that moment when you realize your weekend is about over and you have to begin planning for the coming week.

It's a sad moment in time.

I wish I'd have time to do "this" this weekend.  I wish I'd have done "that".

I know.  It breaks my heart too.

But since we cannot stop the inevitable, I've come up with a few things that I do to make the Sunday Night Blues not so bad.

My most important thing is to make sure when I crawl my miserable body into bed, I have something to look forward to.

Clean sheets.

Yes.  It's simple.

Clean sheet night is amazing.  You know that feeling when you pull back the covers, slip your feet underneath them and pull the covers up to your chin and the clean laundry smell engulfs your nostrils?

I can't help but sigh and sink into the bed and relax.

This almost makes Sunday nights not so blue.  Almost.

(Keep following for a few more tips for beating the Sunday Night Blues.)

I LIVE IN A ZOO

Not really.

But it feels like it sometimes.

One of our newest additions is Fletch.

Well, technically, he's Fletch II or Fletch Jr.

He came to live with us when he was 3 weeks old.  A friend of The Teenager found 3 kittens that had been abandoned by their momma.

We hand fed him with a syringe for the first week we had him then we taught him to eat from a bottle.  

 He's 11 weeks old now.  He's grown a bunch. 

And he's become a hellion. 

He attacks anything and everything that moves. 

Ranger and Dexter love him.  They've accepted him as if he's one of the dogs.  I think Ranger thinks Fletch is a dog.  Ranger played the part of momma cat.

Dexter taught us how to make the kitten use the bathroom. 

It was an amazing experience.

Now if we can just survive the crazy kitten stage.  No kidding, he's an evil kitten.  My toes can attest to that.

But just like a child, when he's asleep, he's adorable.

We might just survive this.

YUMMY AND STUFF

Guess what I'm doing. 

Come on.  I'll give you three guess and the first two do not count.

Once the cake is done, I'm going to grill some hot dogs.

I like mine burnt.  And with lots of stuff on them.  My favorite is a burnt hot dog with ketchup, mustard, and sour kraut. 

My mouth is watering. 

Come on, cake.  Hurry up and get done. 

Oh, once the cake is cooled, I'm going to poke holes in it.  Then I'm going to pour blue raspberry jello into it.

Then I'm going to put it in the fridge to chill.  After it's chilled, I'm going to top it with Cool Whip. 

I need a bib.