April 28, 2011

A List of Sorts

... that is totally unrelated in any shape or form...

1. Can you believe the devastation in the deep South?  My heart breaks for them.

2. I've stretched the groceries about as far as I've ever stretched them.  Today my kids had scrambled eggs and canned chicken noodle soup.  It was literally the only thing we could find.

3. We're celebrating my husband's birthday tonight just the 5 o' us.  I let the kids decorate.  Who knew a valentines wreath, a used car lot pool flag rope, and some ribbon could be so festive?

4. I made my first big cookie cake from scratch today.  We didn't have a regular bag of chocolate chips so I used minis and chunks of a giant Hersey bar.  What could go wrong?

Oh, maybe the fact that I used a flat pizza pan so now my house smells like burnt cookie drippings.

5. My brother has been trying to make it home from deployment for over 2 weeks.  It involves a large plane that keeps breaking down. The fact that he had to travel over 8,000 miles of ocean made us a little uneasy.  We're waiting on the phone call of his safe return...

6. Someone please tell me the secret to a clean toaster oven.  Ours looks disgusting and it's less than a year old.

7. Here's a hypothetical question for you... if you find a snake in your yard/garage do you catch an release?  ignore it?  kill it?  Just curious.

8. My son was dropped off from a playdate yesterday and the mom said, with a perplexed look on her face, "He wouldn't eat dinner."  If your child is anything like mine, they NEVER skip a meal.  She had taken them to CookOut and he said he would get migraines if he ate the hot dogs (which is true) and he would DIE if he ate the hamburgers.  Umm.... maybe allowing our 7 year old to watch a documentary on meat processing wasn't the best call.  Sorry, Erin.

9. However....  I HIGHLY recommend adding Food Inc. to your Netflix queue.  It will change the way you look at dinner.  Our family has made some drastic changes to our eating habits.  Drastic and for the better!

10. We have a not-very-nice neighbor.  When I say not-very-nice I am being VERY nice.  (Have any of those??) I passed him in public yesterday, put on my big girl pants, and said hello.  He completely ignored me.  From 6 feet away.  Needless to say it provided a good life-lesson conversation with my daughter who was completely shocked that someone would be rude to her momma.


Don't forget to answer #6 and #7.
Hugs!!!

11 comments:

Karen said...

Snake = Kill but I'm sure that is not politically correct.

I'm anxious to hear other responses regarding the toaster oven. I am currently hiding mine because it is gross.

Praying for your brother!

Tracey said...

Toaster oven : I have a crumb tray that I can remove and scrub. I take out the rack and crumb tray and scrub the bottom of the oven and wipe off the sides. You'll never be able to get all the crumbs / grease marks off...but it will look better. When it gets too bad, I visit the Mart and buy a new one.

Snake : kill. hate.them.

Rude neighbor : seriously?? It amazes me how many folks actually think that 'it's all about them'. I'm with your daughter..how dare they be rude to you!

KR said...

7. Kill first, identify & apologize later.

6. My toaster oven has a removable bottom (as I type that I'm wishing they made those for humans....sigh) that I take off, shake out & wash. If the bottom doesn't come off, maybe remove the shelf & use a dust buster or hand vac attachment?

Alternative for 6. Pitch it & find another at a yard sale?

ashley said...

I laughed out loud about the fact that your son refused to eat a hamburger. HILARIOUS! But, I can't blame him because I don't think I've had one either since I watched Food Inc about 4 months ago. :) I'm still waiting for a blog post about some of the changes y'all have made and what you took away from the movie! ;)

Samantha said...

I'm right there with you and the toaster oven. As for the snake, true story. When I was 6 we lived on a farm and I collected about 50 little garden snakes and put them into one of those giant pickle buckets. I brought them into to the house to show my mom and dumped them all over the floor. "look what I found mommy" My poor mom, she was finding them for days. so I would say depending on the type of snake just leave it they are pretty harmless if not to big or poisonous.

Angie said...

I just gave our toaster oven a good scrub. Sprayed it down with Dawn Power dissolve and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I went at it with a scrubby brush (one of the thin ones). Wiped it down with a wet rag a few times until the dawn is all gone.

You should always kill a snake when given the opportunity.

Sandy said...

6. I'd try the Dawn Dissolver first; them maybe oven cleaner? Don't really know.
7. KILL! If you can get them fast enough... twice yesterday I had one slither out from under the deck (definitely 2 different ones, by size for sure), but it/they scuttled right back under when it saw me. I think I'm going to keep the shovel out there. But I'm also going to get some of that snake spray your hubby uses!

Little Oak Table said...

Snake+KILL!

so funny about your boy not eating meat!

Amy said...

No answers on the toaster oven as I don't have one.

My first response about the snake is like on the Cosby Show....'Kill it!' But honestly, if we see any around here (we live out in the country)most times we just leave it be & let it go on it's merry way.

Angel said...

All the snake hate makes me a little sad. I would much rather know there is a snake eating the mice and voles that spread disease than having mice and voles spreading disease/getting into your house. Snakes can be startling by nature, but without them, I think we would suffer more. Most are nonvenomous and harmless. I have boys and love it when they find critters for us to observe, sketch, and journal about. I think a good question is...why is the snake visiting your yard/home? I am skittish about them too, but respect them as one of God's creatures and an important part of the food web.

As for the toaster oven...good question!

Joy for the Seasons said...

#6...ours always looks disgusting all the way around. So much so that before Christmas I unplugged it and put it in the garage. And never looked back. :)