Happy Halloween

~From our home to yours~

Friday's Dinner:

Beef Stew & Veggies with Bone Biscuits

Bone Biscuits

Scary Cupcakes for Office Parties

The Pumpkins

 

We unfortunately had no Trick-or-Treaters this year, but enjoyed a Halloween party at a friend's home.

Husby went as Swine Flu, complete with a pig nose, ears and a tail and I was a nurse.

Healthy Eating

So I am currently bidding on Ebay for this Cookbook.

I saw it last night while running through Joann's (we finally figured out our costumes for Saturday...but it'll be a big surprise) and read some reviews about the cookbook, as well as, read some of the recipes and think this may be a good idea for Husby and I. We both need fast meals that are tasty, but also healthy. And he can not give up his Mac-n-Cheese, so there needs to be some compromise. I recently got him to add tomatoes and other things to the Mac to make it a little better, but hopefully we'll get this cookbook and I can come up with some more ideas.

Weekend Musings

So this was by far a good weekend in our house. Friday, after a LONG day of teaching, Husby and I decided to go do some "fun" errands together. He bought a motorcycle helmet and gloves so when he gets the bike painted he can ride it "safely". We then headed to the mall, because we had to fill in some gaps in our wardrobes. *Interesting Husby Fact # 1: My husband has an addiction to Adidas deodorant and cologne and will only wear them.* Too bad for him, they discontinued making deodorant about a year or so ago, so he is down to his last stick from his stockpile and will soon have to venture into the blue yonder we all call the common deodorants. *Interesting Husby Fact # 2 (that so goes along with # 1): My husband will only wear Quicksilver boxers and states every other brand does not fit right or is too short, etc. etc. Too bad for him (once again), Quicksilver boxers are very difficult to find now that there is no outlet in Foley for him to shop at. So Friday, after tackling the helmet and gloves, we decided we should work on the boxers issue (or else I will be forced to do laundry every 3-4 days) as his drawers are dwindling due to wear. So we went to the mall, I got my energy drink of a fruit smoothie and we first went in search of a Halloween Costume idea for both him and I (No luck!). Then it was to Macy's to look for boxers. Of course we walked through the women's section, so we had to stop and look at what was on sale/clearance so I could fill in my fall/winter dress clothes. There is one particular sales lady who always works on Friday evenings and she was there and saw us. Of course at this point, Husby had already picked out a bunch of clothes he thought would be cute on me, so his hands were full of clothes and he was still "shopping the racks" for me. Well, sales lady sees us and makes a comment to another shopper she was conversing with about us.
Sales lady: Oh, nice to see you all. (to other shopper) Isn't is nice that she (me) has her own personal shopper (Husby)?
Of course, I thought it was hilarious, and laughed a little.
Other shopper: Oh is this a friend or boyfriend?
Me: Oh, he's my husband...he just has a great eye for deals and my professional wardrobe.

I ended up buying almost everything he picked out for me and did not feel guilty racking up a slight shopping bill since it was all great deals and necessary apparel pieces. When we were down scouring the racks and trying everything on, we then went on to tackle his shopping issue: Mission Boxers. Everything there was not to his criteria (too, short, too tight, too stiff, no button, too big of an opening, etc.), so we left  the Men's Apparel and went pack and purchased my clothes. As we were leaving Macy's for the car:

Me: I think they thought you were gay, Hun?
Husby: So? Is it that strange that I like to go clothes shopping with my wife?
Me: Well, no. But most men wish to stay home and watch sports while their wives rack up a huge shopping debt.
Husby: At least if I go, I can keep you from spending too much.
Me: Are you kidding? Who picked out most of tonight's damage?
Husby: Well, I did, but you did save a lot and you got a lot of nice clothes.
Me: True, but still she called you my personal shopper. ::Laughs:::

After Macy's we had to go look at Ross:
a) so I could find cute Halloween and Christmas things on sale...
b) so we could pick up a few different kinds of boxer brands for Husby to try (Calvin Klein, Jockey, Nike, Adidas, Hanes etc.)..
c) because I love these types of stores when in search of killer deals on things like home goods and dressy clothes.

Saturday we spent mostly at home, watching Gator football, working on projects around the house and me doing my homework. Had a good home cooked dinner of steak, sweet potato (for me), baked potato (for Husby). Sunday, we continued our trend of shopping for deals and hit Kohl's to look for clothes for Husby and I found their clearance home decor area. I found a cute Halloween runner for our *new* table (it still has not been delivered) and coordinating placemats for Halloween. I cannot wait until they put their Christmas things on sale. They have a cute runner, placemats and dishes I want, but refuse to pay full price for. After Kohl's we knocked out our food shopping and went to Lowe's to fix the Guest room Tray I bought a few weeks ago (bought glass to replace the missing piece). After we got home, Husby skimmed through the flyers and saw the HHGreg ad we have been waiting for. They were finally offering their "Cash for Clunkers" type deal on appliances, so we went and bought our new energy-star fridge and it will be delivered on Wednesday (Husby gets to wait for the deliverymen since I am teaching). According to Husby, the new one will fit where the old one currently is. Otherwise, looks like we may be redoing the kitchen in 2010.

I cannot wait until our new Loveseat, Dining Table & Chair Set and Fridge get delivered. I hope the furniture comes before Husby's mom and husband visit (2 weeks away). It will be nice to have the house organized again.

Gator Fans

Even the dogs are in on Saturday College Football and they, too, root for the Gators.

Bed Makeover

So have I ever mentioned that Husby is the sewing one in the group? Well, he finished making curtains for our poster bed. He handmade the curtains from some fabric we liked and then made the loops and buttons and wraps from some materials we found at our local craft store, Joann's.

The bed

It is amazing what a can of paint can do to a bedframe. This was an IKEA special that was originally a canary yellow color, but Husby sanded it down and painted it a dark cherry color to match our bedroom furniture.

Looking in from the Hallway

 

Picture taken from the opposite corner

The handmade loops and decor buttons

 This was made from black buttons with the multi-color cording wrapped around it

Curtain pullbacks

We fell in love with these buttons, but unfortunately  we could not find enough of them, so we got 4 and used them as curtain pullbacks with the loop on the bedposts.

The bed gets lots of use and must be comfy.

Look at his face!

Another Doctor's Visit

So after attempting to drive to work this morning and having to turn around twice because I was feeling ill, I made an appointment with my doctor. After seeing him and going over all the symptoms, taking flu and strep tests, I have neither and he gave me a prescription to fight a sinus infection. He also thinks I have another stomach bug and that's why I am feeling sick after eating. Ugh! I wish I could be "normal" and not have these issues. I still have my headache and although the house is sort of warm, I am still running hot (even though I was not recording a fever at the office this morning). I guess its back to relaxing on the couch and then back to bed. Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up better since this week's classes are going to be LONG and I will need lots of patience.

Sick Day at Home

So unfortunately, I woke this morning feeling under the weather and decided to stay home. I had homework to do for school, so I worked on that most of the day. I also took time to relax and try to get over whatever I have. Still feeling under the weather and this is going on Day 3. We'll see how the rest of the week goes, I guess.

On a side note, I think Lucky thinks Husby is leaving for yet another business trip since he has been sulking around the house all day and now we found him laying on the couch on top of Husby's dressy sweater....

Weekend

It was Homecoming for the Gators, but we were unable to secure tickets, so we watched it from home. I was supposed to do my homework, but I barely made it through the readings. I haven't been feeling well (dizzy, nauseous, sore and achy). The Gators won, but the game was very close. It seems both Arkansas and UF made some mistakes in their game plan, but both teams were good and the game was good overall (Husby was yelling at the screen whenever they made a bad plan or the zebras made a bad call). SEC is still one of the best conferences and that is obvious with the teams. Just my thought. Still not feeling well today, but we are off to bowling and dinner in a bit.

Grad School Blues...

Today I am singing the Grad School Blues. How in one day can I go from carefree and relaxed about my upcoming class to a complete mess and overwhelmed? Oh that's right because I decided to have 7 classes of students take an exam this week and my new semester of classes started and there are a gazillion things to do in 1 week for this class. I have 3 readings (1 is mandatory, 1 is "optional but important that you skim the key details" and 1 is a case study on Calif. Finance), a 3 pg. paper/discussion to write, a Self-Test, a weekly evaluation, a discussion of introductory value. Oh and I am *supposed* to start working on my Course Project that is due at the end of the semester. Where do I start?

To top it off, my students have come up with wonderful reasons for why they did not do well on their exams...complain, complain, complain. And then while I am lecturing, they interrupt to ask meaningless questions....just another day in the life of an underpaid, unappreciated teacher. :(

Exam Day = Doom Day!

So today is a teaching day with 3 classes to teach. Fortunately for me, it's an exam week (second of four), so there is less creativity on my part, as I only have to lecture for 1.5 hours instead of 2.5 to 3 hours. But here is what is irking me today. They all knew they had an exam today...I only announced it and wrote it on the board every week for the past 2 weeks and highlighted it during last week's class and they have a course syllabus....yet I had 2 students who were completely oblivious to today's exam. Then, because I care about my student's well-being, I reviewed and reviewed and reviewed the material being covered on the exam, posted a review sheet online for them, and evenly slipped on some hints as to the types of questions that may be on their exam. Any yet, they still seem to miss the questions! Seriously? I cannot even give away points. I think I will need a large bag of chocolate to get through this grading week. :(

Sorry for the rant!

Consignment Shopping

I was just watching The Duggars and saw them go shopping here. I should keep this place in mind in the future. We will have to see if we can attend one of their sales to stock up on some things in the future and bring lots of friends and family to help find the great deals.

http://www.growingkidssale.com/

Room Decor Challenge

Below is my Room Design Challenge Entry and I chose a Nursery with an Aquatic Theme. It is more ideal for a boy, but could be girlied if needed. I love the underwater and found the ocean design calming.

Enjoy!

*My Power Buys*

Since I am home these next couple days by myself, I spent part of my evening looking for some great deals.

At Bed, Bath & Beyond:

Cookbook Holder for the Kitchen (orig. 12.99- 20% off = $10.39)



Picture Frame Tray (Clearance = $4.98) -For our Guest Bedroom-
*It is missing a piece of glass to cover the pictures, but I can find one and it may need some touch-up paint*




At Target:

Photo Box (Clearance = $ 4.98)
*I added a coat of white paint to cover some dirt marks and then fixed the ribbon (it was falling off) with some hot glue and added the shells*

Busy Bee

This is a somewhat hectic week for me with all that is going on, and I really need to conquer some things around the home and in my life. Greene is traveling for work until Wednesday. Thankfully, we did laundry, changed linens, did the dishes, and even vacuumed and straightened up a bit this weekend. *Note: We have a gazillion clothes and therefore only do laundry every other week, and to be all honest the dishwasher gets run approximately 2x a week since it is only the 2 of us and most times the 2nd wash is pans and it's only 1/2 full.* In terms of our house cleaning schedule, I am notorious for straightening up behind Greene as he leaves things around, but for the most part we "clean as we go". *Thank you God I have a husband who understands the meaning of a clean home and picks up for himself (for the most part).*

My Schedule for Tonight:

* Trip to Michael's Craft Store (look for some extra pieces for the Halloween village)
* Redo the Recipe Cards and catch up on the stack of recent recipes
* Watch my "girly" shows
* Work on the Christmas applique kits

Later this Week:
* Higher Education Finance class starts (Wednesday evening)
* Grade exams (Friday & Weekend)
* Relax and POGO (my evening escape)

...

Blogging has definitely taken a backseat to life here but mainly because grad school, being sick, teaching 7 classes a week, Husby traveling, and my shoulder still hurting has been the primary focuses. Once again Husby is traveling and it is a quiet week between grad school (term starts Wednesday) and teaching (Exam 2 this week).

Nothing to exciting has been occurring either. We have the village almost all set for Halloween (pics to come in future post) and this weekend, we bought some new furniture for the home. We are beginning to transition ourselves from newlyweds and "stay-at homes" to more entertaining and future family status, so we found a really nice dining table that has a leaf for widening/extending it with 6 matching chairs and also a loveseat to match our couch in the Living Room.

Our Couch:



Our New Loveseat:



This is the Dining Room Table except with 6 chairs:



The Tall chairs (Ones on Left) are the chairs we went with (We already plan to redo the seats as I do not like the material on them from the warehouse):



*I think we are going to cover the chairs in a blue suede-like material, but cannot find a good picture*

*::*Update*::*
Although this is crappy camera phone picture, you can kid of see the color of the fabric. I happened to be near Joann's and figured I could snap a quick picture.



Saw this fabric and want to make pillows out of it or maybe placemats and napkins:
*http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat1183844&PRODID=xprd779844*