Mister Scary

Only carved one pumpkin for Halloween this year. Went out to the pumpkin patch with my cousins to pick it out with two more, but saved the two others I had to carve for "fall". This one was the biggest one so I knew it was going to be Mister Scary even before I had picked a design.

I went through the book I had of designs, but none of them really grabbed me so I went online and did a search and found one I liked and printed it.

Love to carve pumpkins in the living room while watching something seasonally appropriate. During this one, I was watching an episode of Walking Dead on On Demand, trying to catch up on the season. I washed the outside of the pumpkin and dried it off and then got to cutting out the top, so I could get the insides cleaned out. I am kind of texture sensitive on my hands so I decided to wear gloves during the cleaning portion.

I have done a lot of pumpkins with this kit now, and am pretty quick once I get the guy cleaned out, but I have also started to resort to less fancy designs due to time constraints and the fact that the more intricate it is, the faster it seems to rot and lose its shape. We had
had a particularly warm October and I wanted to make sure to have an intact pumpkin through the holiday at least.

Once the inside was cleaned out, I could get started with the design taped to the pumpkin and the little hole punch action. Then I removed the design and started sawing out the design.

Once he was all cut out and ready to go, I put him on the front porch and lit a tea light. I ended up getting some battery powered tealights from the dollar store for later but for the first night, it was the "real deal".

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Five Years Ago on In My Words...Halloween Decor

Monster Dash

Signed up to do this 5K to see if I could get motivated. The course wasn't my favorite because the entire first half was uphill and if you have read my blog before, you know I don't like to run up hill. On top of that, I am so completely out of shape it is not even funny.

On the otherhand, it was for a good cause, my cousin was running it too, and we got to dress up in costumes. So this meant, finding a costume that would be easy to run in. I had some errands to do, and managed to swing by a store that had a simple lady bug costume that I could wear running shorts under and I was set. I did end up wearing a long sleeve running shirt under the costume and I am glad I did because even though the sun was shining, it was a bit chilly in the shade.

The turn out was great. Took lots of pics of all the other creative costumes out there. Didn't run as  much of it as I would have liked and really saw how fat I have gotten when I saw some of the pics the pro photographer took but it was still great exercise, and my time was somewhere in my median area.

I am signed up for a Ugly Sweater run in December and might even do a Turkey Trot 2 miler on Thanksgiving....we'll see.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Racing Again

SmartWool Socks Acquired

There are two more pairs that didn't make the pic

Cooler weather always makes me rethink my sock situation. I am a bit of a sock hoarder, I admit, but I pretty much think you can't have too many socks.

So I went onto my favorite website for obtaining inexpensive SmartWool socks, because while I love the feel and the patterns, I really can't pay full price for them. On this site, I can find them for about 60% off and that is the way to go!

Once these awesome ones came in the mail, I went through my sock drawer and dx'd any that were worn out, or just weren't getting worn.

Out of these ones, there were two pair (same sock, different patterns) that I ended up not being able to wear because even though they were advertised as being "over the calf" there was no way in hell I could pull them up over my soccer calves. I gave them both to my cousin and she loves them!!
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Earlier This Year on In My Words...SmartWools Socks

Little Happenings

So, have been super busy lately...but all of it is like little stuff so some of it isn't big enough for a post on its own...so here you get the little tidbits.

Rebuilding The Wii

So as you know from this post, I had dismantled the Wii in hopes that the disc read error I was running into was strictly due to a retaining clip...didn't turn out to be, so I had to order a new DVD drive for the Wii.

New drive and open instructions

It came in the mail a few days ago and today, I decided to give it a shot. I pulled up the two sites I had bookmarked for accomplishing this task as well as re-assembling the Wii and got to it.

Needed to double check that the replacement drive came with the rubber grommets that my old one had, and it did. I also checked to make sure the chip numbers matched up, and they did. I then started the steps to reconnect the drive to the console. Once I got the DVD drive connected and the clamshell back on it, I decided to test it before I put anything else back together. I plugged it all in, and then inserted a game disc....and we had a WORKING Wii Console!!!

Tested with the Jeopardy disc

New drive + console with only clamshell

I then unplugged everything, and put the rest of it together, twice. First time, I had an missing screw somehow, and the OCD in me couldn't let that go....second time around, have no idea, but I ended up not having a missing screw so all is right with the world.

All back together, no extra screws!

I guess now, I will try emailing the company that I bought the drive from (it was refurbished) and see if they want my old drive to refurbish it for another user at some point in the future...would rather do that, than give the drive to the landfill.
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Seven Years Ago on In My Words...Bathroom Project Before-After

Soup And Tea

Trying to fight off a head cold I probably picked up on the plane on the trip to the midwest I took last week. Been living on fluids, soups, vitamins and rest...

So I took this udon soup and added fresh garlic, fresh ginger, and fresh green onions for lunch...made up some genmai-cha (green tea with roasted rice) as well. Should be a nice boost to the immune system (fingers crossed).

Last night, I took some egg drop soup and added the same fresh ingredients to it for dinner and added some warmed up jasmine rice I had in the fridge for extra calories. It tasted pretty good. I have bouillon for pho bo, tom yum and tom kha, so I am covered for a while and still don't have to eat the same soup twice!

Gotta run, want to get to this beautiful bowl of soup before it cools down!
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Five Years Ago on In My Words...Calendars, Etc

Sometimes Technology Is Just Not Your Friend

Dissembled Wii

If you know me, you know I am a geeky little nerd and while I don't think that going out and buying the newest thing is the smartest thing to do, I am a believer is the use of technology in many forms.

Lately, it seems like I have been inundated with technology issues. As you know from this post, I was having issues with the cable/phone/internet a few weeks ago. That has been resolved and we even got a refund for the day we were without service.

On top of that, the loader/ejector for the CD player in our truck stopped working last fall, and now it looks like the driver's side door speaker is done now too. We have had both speakers in the front doors replaced years ago because they both blew, and the truck was still under warranty. Shortly after that, Chevy issued a recall for the front door speakers but since we had new ones, I didn't think anything of it...but I am now wondering if they just put in the same type that were in there before and these two should have been recalled (might have to call the dealership about this one). So that is frustrating for me to say the least.

Then the hand blender that I have loved for several years decided it was done. I found this out while in the middle of making a smoothie for dinner which made the smoothie not all that smooth. I have found a replacement online that might be even better since there was no way to fix this one.

The other day, I got a hair up my ass about wanting to play some games on the Wii. I turned the Wii on, and after a few mins, got a disc read error. I followed the instructions on the screen to no avail, and started Googling. Looked like my problem was based in the fact that I tend to leave a DVD in the console all the time, and that there is a retaining clip that can be rubbing on the disc causing it to not get up to read speed. So I dissembled the entire console, and did all the bending recommended in many tutorials and YouTube videos but this still did not help things. The sound to me, sounded like it was coming from a different spot than just the retaining clip. So after fiddling with it for several hours, I decided to look at how much it would be to change out the DVD drive (since it is basically just like the ones in a computer and I have installed plenty of those).

I looked online and it was easy enough to find a replacement drive for much cheaper than replacing the entire console or buying an upgrade (Wii U), so I ordered it, and it is on its way. Right now, the Wii console is in parts all over our entertainment center with items taped in place so I don't forget where things go.

Keep your fingers crossed that the DVD fix works, and that at some point, I am able to get the speaker and CD player in the truck fixed. I don't want to change the CD player out myself since it is connected to the alarm system for the truck and I don't want to mess with the door speaker either since our doors are all electric and I would hate to mess something up that major (especially on the driver's door).
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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Just Stuff

Cleaning Project

My SIL and BIL moved this past week, and are finally into their own home now and enjoying it immensely. In the process of the move, which took about a week due to schedules of everyone involved, we tried to get some unpacking done to make these feel a bit less overwhelming. My MIL and SIL were unpacking part of the kitchen and realized that while the entire house has new paint and new floors, no one ever bothered to check above the kitchen cabinets. We were wiping out the cabinets as we were adding dishes to them, but the above counter top area was going to take more than a "wipe out".

Sideview because of small space, before

The next day, I brought over my vacuum since it has a hose on it and we could put it on a step stool and reach up to do the initial cleanup. Once that was done, I went to town with rags and cleaning supplies to get that baby cleaned up. I just wanted my SIL to have a fresh clean start in her new home and I knew she was looking forward to being able to use that space to display some of her blue glass collection. I didn't want her to have to stop the process of unpacking to tackle a lousy job...consider it my gift to her...LOL.

Sideview again due to headspace, after

Anyhow, since I was the only one that had ventured up on to the counters to see what a mess it was, I decided I better document it...these pics are from above one of the cabinets closest to the stove so they were the worst of the bunch. The others were mostly dust and overspray from the latex paint on the walls.
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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Self Improvement (this would be a good thing for me to focus on right now too!)

Chk, chk, chk

Been trying to knock some things off the list lately...and it feels good, but never seems to make a dent...always so many more things on the list.

Today has been a productive phone day, made some calls and got some things scheduled. Found out that the paint on our truck canopy is covered by warranty and the original place we bought it still has the proof of purchase so will be getting that fixed as soon as the proof comes in the mail. It will be weird to drive the truck without a canopy while it is getting repainted. I am betting the paint won't match exactly because the paint on our truck and the canopy has been on the same amount of time and now the canopy will have new paint but it has to be better than the little bubbles we are seeing right now.

Scheduled doc appt, and the HVAC service appt as well. Scheduling worked out perfect. Still have trip to Google later this month on the schedule, and made airline arrangements for annual trip to see Gpa, but still need to reserve rental car.

Tried to play some Wii last night but it seems that something is wrong with the disk drive on it...have to get a special screwdriver to take it apart, so that might be a bit of a wait. I am bummed because I was geared up to get back into playing some of the games (especially the ones that make you move). Hopefully it won't be too complicated of a fix, figure if I can fix computers, I can look at this and see if there is a way to fix it.

Fall is coming rather quickly and I have a lot of stuff to get into the ground before it does, not to mention a lot of yard work to do as soon as it starts getting cold. That is one reason getting these two trips taken care of works out perfectly. It will still be warm enough when I get back to tackle some of the projects.

Been enjoying the football, soccer, golf and Nascar on TV...love this time of year for sports. Need to get some geocaches and more consistent exercise in though...no excuses.

Ordered a leaf net to cover the pool with this fall to catch all the leaves I spent hours fishing out last year...hopefully it works like it should and reduces the amount of time and effort required.

All in all, trying to do what I can do and control what I can control...the rest is out of my hands...LOL
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Six Years Ago on In My Words....Puss In Boots (I miss this little girl).

Internet And Cable Woes

We have Charter for cable, internet and voip phone at our house. Yesterday, I noticed a company person working on the box that our connection comes through. Unfortunately at the time, I was in the middle of a lot of yardwork, so I didn't realize until almost 7pm that we had no phone, internet or cable in the house. I called Charter on my cellphone and they tried to reset our cable box remotely and couldn't make a connection and realized that a tech was going to have to come out. Fortunately, they had an appt available first thing this morning.

The guy came out this morning, opened up the box at the curb, discovered that the guy from yesterday had disconnected our connection, and labeled our line with the wrong address. He reconnected the box, and then came to check the service. I didn't think, at the time that we should do a speed test, and I totally should have. Previously to this, I was getting 45 mbps download and almost 6 upload on the PC that is hardlined connected to the modem, and 30 mbps download and almost 5 upload on the laptop over the wireless connection.

Note that we pay for 30 mbps which is the fastest you can get through Charter on broadband cable. Currently we are getting 11 mbps download and 4 upload on the hardwired PC, and only 4 mbps download and 3 upload on the wireless laptop. I connected the PC directly to their modem (taking our wireless router out of the loop) and no difference. I connected the laptop directly to their modem to prove to them that it wasn't an issue with my PC (they tried to say that it was), and the speeds were not any better. They made an appt to have someone come tomorrow morning to look at it. I was hoping they would help me to release my IP address since I am pretty sure I have a new one and that can affect the speed as well but they said they couldn't do it.

Since coming home from the Grower's Market, I decided to try one more thing. I moved their modem into another room and connected it to the coax and then connected the laptop directly once again to make sure it wasn't just the line running into the office, and the speeds in the other room are not any better....so it has to be something at the street or the box on the side of the house. I have done all I can do here without a key to open the box on the street. So I am hoping that we can figure something out tomorrow...fingers crossed.
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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Making A Cup Of Coffee

Dilation Experience

Still somewhat dilated after 3 hours

Yesterday I went in for an annual eye exam at a new optometrist. Our insurance covers the exam itself, but the renewal of my contact prescription is always extra and it isn't covered. I had been told when making the appt that it would be between 70-110 dollars depending on how extensiive the contact portion of the exam needed to be. I have been wearing contacts for over 20 years and I have had no problems, so I am usually just going through the steps to get a new prescription so I can order contacts through the mail, and I wasn't excited about having to pay at least 70 dollars out of pocket (on top of the costs of contacts and solutions).

This new place was awesome (I'll be writing up a full review for my review blog soon), the staff was super friendly, and the exam was more thorough than any I have ever had before. I think I moved between 4 different rooms while I was there, and the entire exam was 1 hour and 45 mins. I was starting to think that I was going to be paying the $110 for sure, but I was kind of okay with it since I was getting the full meal deal treatment.

Near the end of the exam they did the pressure test (but not with the puff of air, thankfully), and then they dilated my eyes (my first time). What a weird experience that was. I could see everything okay (obviously the far away stuff was blurry, as it normally is when I don't have my contacts in) but once I put my contacts back in, all of a sudden I couldn't see anything that was within an arms length from my face. The doctor even said that it was like instantly having the vision one might have at 75 or 80, in an instant, and that was no joke...I was basically blind to anything close to my face.

They told me the effects of the dilation would last for a few hours. I went up the counter to pay, and much to my delight and surprise, I was only charged 20 bucks!! That is their renewal visit cost, and I think because neither of my prescriptions changed, they felt like that was the best way to go. I was thrilled. Of course, signing the credit card receipt was a lot of fun when I couldn't even see the line on the piece of paper....LOL.

When I got in the car, I had to hold my phone as far from my face as I could reach so I could text my sister the good news on the payment. The weird part was that my distance vision (with the exception of the sensitivity to light) was not affected at all so driving was not a problem. The effects wore off mostly after a few hours, and by this morning, it was all back to normal.
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Five Years Ago on In My Words...Loving The New Contacts

Red Skies At Night

We live in a region that is experiencing a lot of wildfires. Most of them have been started by dry lightening. At least one of them is growing, but because of the location and the history of the area, attempts to fight it are very limited.

None of these fires is currently threatening our home or any of our famiily's or friend's homes, but the wind is bringing the smoke from all of them into our area. For some towns, this has caused sever air quality issues, and amazingly enough, as smoking as it looks and smells out there, our particular spot (as of this moment, it is supposed to change this afternoon), is considered to still be within normal ranges.

Sunset from Gma's, those are not clouds

The other day, before the smoke had really moved into the area, you could see a huge swath of it across the horizon as it blotted out the sun at sunset and darkened the north end of the valley.

Left is basic normal day, hills can be seen. Right is yesterday after wind shift, can barely see end of block.

This pic is a comparison of our view from the front deck looking towards the nearby hills, that you can see on the left side and can't see in the right side. Right now, it doesn't look like we have any hills or mountains surrounding us when we live in the nook of two different mountain ranges. I would not want to be flying a plane or helicopter in this stuff, that is for sure.

Sunrise this morning over the neighbors yard

This last pic is of the rising sun over the top of our neighbors yard this morning, while we are still in the "green" for air quality...can't imagine what it is going to be like later today after the wind shifts start to bring more of the smoke from these fires into our valley.
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Eight Years Ago on In My Words...Kiss Ass Lightening

Purple Plums Abound

This pic is of a colander full of purple plums off our tree in front of the house. This is the third one of these that I have filled in the last week, and the second in two days. For some reason, the birds and other wildlife are not picking the plums like they did last year, and we also seem to have way more plums than last year as well...this adds up to a very droopy tree as you can see.

I have been picking as fast as I can, and one thing I have noticed is that there are lots of ripe plums up there and they are still kind of hard to pick...so I am wondering if we have a mutant year going on and the ripe plums are not dropping like they should. I think I am going to pit them and try freezing them for use in smoothies later. No way I can eat all these fresh, that is for sure. Oh, and I swallow the pits usually, which apparently isn't all that good for me...luckily, I don't chew the pits so I am a bit safer.

I spent some time last night after picking for eating, cleaning up around the bottom of the tree so we don't end up with a bunch of mushrooms and fruit flies...lots of fun!
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Five Years Ago on In My Words...Geocaching On The Road

Best Day Of My Life

21 years ago on this date, I married my best friend and the love of my life. It has been an amazing adventure and I wouldn't trade any of it. Love you J, always and forever!
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Eight Years Ago on In My Words...Swing Of Things

Poor Plum Tree

This is what our poor Purple Plum tree in the front yard looks like. It is so droopy, because it has a gazillion plums on it (I do not exaggerate). I have been trying to pick some of them, but it is not enough to keep up. I keep hoping that the birds or racoons will start eating them like they did last year to reduce the load. They are eating off the one across the street and the one in our backyard...(in fact caught three racoons in that backyard tree a few nights ago snacking).

Soon enough, the plums will get overripe and start to drop on their own. I need to get out and pick another batch before that happens so they can be enjoyed. I am also going to have my hands full picking up the fallen ones as much as I can to keep the ground from under the tree from getting all rotty and full of fruit flies.
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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Bring On The Heat
We hit 104 here today so this one makes sense

Warm Again

We are heating up again, starting today. Need to put some water in the pool since the evaporation rate seems to be higher than normal with this heat, and the chlorine maintenance is a lot of fun too when it is this warm. Nice thing though is that there is a pool and it is a great way to cool off after working up a sweat trying to knock out some DIY stuff around here.

Turned the front sprinklers to run every morning super early to just keep the front yard from turning to crisp...the backyard is still a struggle to deal with but trying to take things one day at a time...LOL.

Wildfires seem to be the big news items right now...if we could get a few days of rain thrown in with this sunshine, it would definitely calm things down a bit.
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One Year Ago on In My Words...Bad Blogger, I Know...funny, same thing this year too...must just be this time of year for it...LOL

Smart Tube Technology

Image from Clorox.com

Oh my gosh...this has been something we have needed for ages. I never could figure out why all the spray bottle companies had not figured this out a long time ago. I would get lucky sometimes and be able to turn the tube to lean towards the front of a bottle but it was always hit or miss if that was an option or not.

I know it probably seems silly to be excited about this...but it really is such an awesome thing. I have to wonder if someone didn't come up with this idea and then sold it to spray bottle manufacturers. Regardless, good news for those of us trying to save money and not wanting to waste!
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Seven Years Ago on In My Words...Mouse In The House

Heat Wave

Love this image from Accuweather.com...they make it sound like we need to buy water and batteries. The big red thermometer icon is hilarious too! Supposed to be over 100 starting Sunday until at least Tuesday...

Good thing I got the pool vacuumed and the filter fixed today...should be swimming in it soon!
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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Fabric For Quilt (one of my girlfriends finished hers up recently and it has inspired me to get working on mine again)

Driving Some Balls

I finally did it. I put the seats down in the back of the truck and put my golf clubs in there, so I would be motivated to go to the driving range. We live in a neighborhood connected to a small public 9 hole course so there is no reason why I have not hit balls since playing with Gpa in Nebraska last year. I even got a punchcard so I could save some money on buckets of balls.

This last year, I got a new driver from Gpa for my birthday and this was my first time hitting it. I hit one just like it when I was in Nebraska, but I hadn't had a chance to hit the actual one he made for me. No excuse for this except I have had a hard time lately making time for myself that doesn't involve home improvement or computer work. My time management skills need some polishing up, for sure.

I was amazed at how well I hit considering the time off. I just tried to focus on letting the club do the work, keeping my eye on the ball, and keeping my legs bent. I did at least 2 practice swings before each ball was hit, which make the whole process last longer and seems to make my shots better, especially when I haven't hit in a while.

I didn't hit any of the recovery clubs, just the even irons and my two drivers. The new driver has a bit more loft than my old one so that helps get the ball up a bit more. I really cracked it a few times and it was definitely a satisifying feeling to see it really fly.

One side note: there are no bathroom facilities near the range so they have a big port-a-potty set up. I had to use it before I started to hit balls, and I noticed that it had a few spiderwebs in the toilet itself...I opted to do the squat and run version. Good thing too, because when I brought up the fact that the "john" needed servicing, the clubhouse assistant manager said they were aware and that it should be locked because the spiderwebs belong to black widows....nice!
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Eighteen Months Ago on In My Words...My Birthday

Chicken Soup

Some of the ingredients

Realized this afternoon that I probably had all the ingredients I needed to make a decent pot of chicken soup...maybe not a traditional pot of chicken soup but a mosh posh of what was in the fridge, cupboards and herb garden. I had canned chicken soup last night, and I know with this cold, a pot of fresh soup would be awesome.

Of course my version with have a bit of an asian twist. I am adding ginger, lemongrass, and daikon to this soup. That is my twist. I know that ginger is good for you when you are sick so that is what started it.

So without measurements, this is what I have going...

Chicken breast
Water
Garlic
Black pepper
Rosemary, chives and basil from the herb garden
Organic chicken broth
Zucchini
Broccoli
Baby carrots
Green onion
Yellow onion
Bellpepper
Daikon
Lemongrass, and ginger from the freezer
Whole wheat spiral noodles

I put the rosemary, ginger and lemongrass into a tea strainer so it wouldn't be all over the soup. I haven't added the soft veggies yet since they will overcook, but will add them near the end.

It has been cooking for 1/2 an hour and it smells wonderful. I might not be able to taste it since my tongue got scalded on tea earlier but I am sure my congested sinuses and chest, as well as the rest of my body will enjoy the heat and all the nutrients.
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Six Years Ago on In My Words...Thai Noodle Soup