Little Buddy Goes To The Arboretum

Like I Don't Have Enough To Keep Me Busy!

Little buddy likes to take the garbage can out from under the kitchen sink and walk around
with it (even though there are safety latches on the doors). I was in a hurry to get to
the store and forgot to put the garbage can back under the sink. Even though the cabinets
are no longer baby-proofed, at least they are still dog-proof. After returning from the
store I walked into the kitchen with bags, purse, & little buddy in hands to find this.

YUCK! One of the things he mutilated here was a package of moldy cheese. The next 24
hours will be interesting, to say in the least.

When I walked in and found it I gasped and looked over at Tango who quickly ran back
over to the couch and laid down with his ears back.

Crazy June & Fabulous Things!

Well, Junes have always been very crazy for us. For this reason I both love and hate June. There are way too many things going on with all the birthdays, graduations, father's day, this year my FIL's retirement, etc. In the midst of all the insanity this year I've managed to do a little around the yard and on Freecycle and Blogspot.

Knowing that we will not be staying in this house very long, I did not want to invest in a big, fancy, wood play set for little buddy. I hung a toddler/baby swing from the apple tree for him and just recently have been toying with the idea of making a sandbox for him. I knew if we did get or make a sandbox for him we would leave it behind when we moved. I decided to start looking for an old tractor tire and posted a wanted for it on Freecycle. Not thinking I'd have much luck I figured I'd take a look on Craig's List for one. Would you believe I found one for free one town over so I went to pick it up after speaking to the current owner. Once I got there with little buddy I arrived to find a house full of motor heads working on cars. Not a girl in sight . . . . I felt kinda weird. They were very nice though and after measuring my van we discovered that the tire was too big for the van. Would you believe that they offered to throw it in their pick-up truck and follow me home with it and unload it for me too (they even put it on my deck), too nice. I offered them gas money several times and they would not accept any. I am ecstatic I got my tractor tire for the sandbox and even more ecstatic that there still are good people in the world.

Another thing that makes me happy is that a robin has built a nest in the apple tree right over our deck. I'm out there all the time and it is kind of a noisy high traffic place cause the slider and screen door is right there (what was miss robin thinking?).

And lastly, my step-mother-in-law got a bonus baby tree with a recent nursery purchase. She asked if I wanted it, of course I jumped at the offer because it's my favorite tree. Check out my baby ginkgo tree. Isn't it cute? Now I just have to pick the perfect place to plant it and plant it. Tell me about something small that recently made you happy.

What Happened To Mr. Six?

I don't like the new Six Flags commercials with the Asian guy that shouts, "Six Flags More Fun!" I liked the advertising that had the little old man aka Mr. Six where he dances to The Venga Bus by The Venga Boys. I love that song. I had some crazy old party times with that song in Lake Geneva. Way back when I partied. I miss Mr. Six. Is he gone forever? If any of you spot him in new or current ads for Six Flags please let me know. Wish that Asian guy would quit shouting at me, "More Flags, More Fun!"

I LOVE TOMATOES!!!!!

This recent salmonella scare with tomatoes really stinks. I really love tomatoes and think it's essential to make most food fabulous. I went to Panera and they were not serving any tomatoes, there goes my choice for the tomato mozzarella salad. Then I went to Chipotle and they weren't serving tomatoes in their food either. Yuck! I got a veggie bowl from Chipotle with corn salsa instead of mild tomato salsa (my favorite part). Blagh! Definitely needs tomatoes. Although Illinois is not one of the states that has been named as having the contaminated tomatoes, I guess the restaurants don't want to take any chances. Click here to read more about this. The tomato haters are probably in heaven. One question: Who could NOT love tomatoes?

Helen's Kitchen

I have tried many vegan, vegetarian, ethnic, frozen meals before. These were on sale, so I bought 2 of them. I got the Vegetable Curry with Tofu Steaks and Basmati Rice and I also bought the Thai Yellow Curry. I happen to love Indian food and thought these might be good. I tried to eat the Vegetable Curry meal. It was horrible. The flavor wasn't very intense for Indian spices, the veggies were completely insufficient and lacking, and the tofu was overly plentiful and had a very coarse spongy texture. I would not buy this again. I will not even touch the Thai Yellow Curry meal in my freezer. Sorry Helen!

So, I've Been A Little Busy

Not only have I been a little busy lately, but I also could not share with you what I've been up to either. Just in case my husband read my blog I did not want to write about the little birthday party I was planning for him for yesterday. It started a few weeks ago. I thought it might be nice to have a small little birthday party for him after all he was turning the big three oh. I just invited the family and planned on telling him about it the morning of. I was going to make the giant barbecued turkey legs and have people bring stuff for sides. I also made a huge green salad loaded with veggies. Instead of getting a cake I made brownies and chocolate chip cookie bars and had my sister bring some Haagen Daz Vanilla to serve with it. I asked my mom to make her awesome potato salad and I asked my step-mother-in-law to make pistachio salad. Everything went fairly well after hubby got out of his crabby funk and relaxed when everyone came over. What really stunk was that the turkey legs were horrible. I don't know for sure but I think the meat had been frozen and thawed a few times cause I've made them before and the meat was never so tough. I have a pretty good knack for making chicken drumsticks too. Whatever happened, it was a complete disappointment. I immediately said, "Ooh, these are awful, sorry everyone." So no one would feel like that was my fabulous cooking . . . . . . NOT! Plus I didn't want anyone to feel obligated to eat them, blagh, they were that bad.

I got my husband a bottle of Burberry's London, a striped polo-type shirt from Kohl's, and I Freecycled a used men's bike and a child's pull behind bike trailer for him so we could go on family bike rides. The bike will need a tune-up and new inner tubes and the trailer is fine. I was so excited and was shocked I actually got replies for both items.

The day went well. Little buddy went down for his nap and the women-folk headed to the deck and all sat around the patio table under my (garbage picked) umbrella. I want a black market umbrella with a tilt mechanism to hide from nosey, noisy neighbors, but have to wait for a sale or end of season sale. I was desperate for a patio umbrella so we could have possibly ate outside or sat out there if it wasn't too hot or rainy. I saw one in a big garbage pile while driving down a road one day. So I picked it up and had to glue one of the wood parts that holds up the fabric part. It was raining so we ate inside but all the women sat out there for girl talk for near 3 hours. It was heaven. Being a mom I forget what that's like, at least for any length of time.

The bike is in Bernie's (handicapped neighbor) garage. I feel so bad for him. He has lots of health issues and only has sight in one eye. He had a cataract so he had surgery on it a few months back. Then shortly after he recovered from the surgery he had a hemorrhage in his good eye which made him blind. It was horrible. We tried to help him as much as possible. He did regain his sight after a few weeks. Then I started to help him clear some junk out of his house by Freecycling things that he wanted to get rid of. Shortly after bringing me his house key so I could let some Freecyclers in his house to pick up a giant laser printer he had another hemorrhage in his recently healed eye. So he is back to square one. I go there almost daily and try to help him as much as I can. I have picked up his groceries, done his laundry, made him food, helped him call his insurance, etc. I feel so bad for Bernie. Appreciate your sight, without it, life is an enormous challenge.

Oh, and little buddy learned how to drink through a straw. Yeah, thanks Aunt April!

Today's Blooms

Pardon my weeds.

Oh My Gosh!!!

Electronic Goose of Goose Juice just had her baby. I just had to tell you guys, but I will not wreck any other details. I was shopping in Meijer for frozen meals for my handicapped neighbor when I got the call from her hubby. I'm sure she will want to fill you all in very shortly. I am so excited! Wish I could be there with her. I will give you a clue: The majority of those who voted in the male or female poll on my blog were right (which includes my vote, well what can I say, Electronic Goose is a dear friend of mine . . . . . . I could just tell what it was). The name is very unique and beautiful, I'm bursting at the seems not to tell. Hope she blogs soon, I can hardly stand not sharing! Gotta go, I smell baby poop.

Celestial Seasoning's Tropic Of Strawberry Tea

OK, guess I'm starting to grow a fondness for fruit teas. I discovered this one a few months ago. It is really good. I didn't know what to expect. Of course I knew it would taste like strawberry but let's face it some fruit teas can fall a little flat. I think the secret trick is to let it steep 8-10 minutes rather than 4-6 like it says in the instructions. I love it. I went back to Meijer to buy another box on Friday and saw that the entire shelf slot for it was empty. Wait, if I stood on my tiptoes I could see one lonely last box of it all the way in back on the very tip top shelf. Ugh, these are the moments I really hate being short. After a very pathetic attempt to try to climb on the shelves and get it myself I decided to search for an employee. Not one in sight except a very large male vendor stocking bread. I asked him if he could get it for me and he kindly obliged. Thank goodness. This has become an almost nightly ritual for my husband and me (since he's been on days). We sit on the couch after I put little buddy to bed and I make tea for both of us. He always drinks Sleepytime Tea or something similar. I have been drinking Tropic of Strawberry lately. Then we both take one heaping teaspoon of honey in each of our cups. If you don't like strawberry you will not like this. I am contemplating trying to make some iced or sun tea out of this but only have a large plastic pitcher and I don't want to use that for hot tea, toxins, etc. Give it a try. It's naturally caffeine free herb tea so you can drink it anytime.