Bakeware Recommendation

My cookies are always flat and I always blamed the ingredients or user error. Today as I baked 4 varieties of Christmas cookies, I figured out the problem!

I was using several cookies sheets to speed up the process when I discovered there was definitely a difference between the two types I was using.

To make a long story, I highly recommend the following:
From Bed, Bath and Beyond, they have a large cookie sheet (more like a jelly roll pan with sides) called Indulgence (by Wilton).
They truly make all the difference. They bake the cookies fast, so you may need to shorten your baking time by a minute or two. (I have a gas oven if that matters to you.) You don't even need a spatula to get them off the pan, except for the fact that they are hot. They wash easily and they cool quickly. I ran out in between batches to buy two more (now I have 3) and my old ones are history (free to a good home!)
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/product.asp?order_num=-1&MC=1&SKU=14748490&RN=4870&

Consumer Reports - Product Update

It's a Monday night and I had a long day at work. I'm exhausted and I'm relaxing in front of the TV and the Internet. I just read a friend's blog (Thanks MP!) and learned something new. I didn't realize that my blog might show up based on what someone might type to do a search. And more than that, it's being tracked. I knew this was possible, but I never really thought about it.
I searched what keywords that are entered to find my blog:
My favorite: [I've typed this in before, but now my blog answers this question! Proud moment]
"how to get urine specimen from cat"

OK so that is the only exciting one except for a few regarding my product reviews, especially my Washing machine.

I thought I should update everyone on my Kenmore Elite Oasis (27072) Washing Machine.
-It is still huge and I love how much it can wash.
-I still despise that it takes ~50 minutes to wash a normal load.
-My water bills have increased since I bought the machine. Could be the cost of water, or that I'm just doing my laundry more, but I am not sure.
-Recently I noticed water leaking out by the front leg. The repairman says it's because the drum moves and water splashes out when it is being piped in. It makes sense, but this seems like it could be a big problem.
-It definitely does not save drying time.
-If I were to wash something by hand, and wanted to run it through the spin cycle, that would not be an option. I can only do a rinse and spin which takes about 25 minutes. There are lots of cycle adjustments you can make, just not the ones I want.
- I wash my bedding (comforters, mattress pads, quilts) more which is a nice thing.
-Sears calls constantly trying to get me to prolong my warranty for the washer and dryer. I know this will bite me in the end.

P.S. I still like my Infiniti Vacuum, however it did get clogged because of an area rug we have. We were able to fix it, but we must be careful with certain types of fiber.

P.S.S. My Cuisineart mini processor is still good. It really only works well for shredding though so far. It doesn't do much at one time, so I've decided I'd like a new bigger one some day.

P.S.S.S My Honda CRV (2007) just passed the one year mark. I took it to the dealer for a 15K checkup. I was having some weird noises when I made hard turns which turned out to be related to the Rear Differential fluid. I think this is a known issue for the CRV. This was under warranty. Otherwise I'm still pleased with the car. We bought a bike rack (hitch) and it works well. The rack is from Target and holds 4 bikes. (under $100) I believe it was a Schwinn Bike Rack.

P.S.S.S Did I even report that we bought a Samsung 52" TV (I think it is model: LNT5265F) several months ago? Sean adores it. It has been great to watch the Olympics on. I don't have any main complaints other than how big it is. But I guess we knew that going into it. The TV is pretty nice although black doesn't always look good. We had to get an HD receiver because it really improves the image. No use having a poor image on a huge TV! We had to buy a new TV Stand which we got from Crate and Barrel. It took me months to find a stand I liked, but this has glass sliding doors (keeps the cats out) and has 3 compartments on each side. Nice!

Our Vacation

It was nice to finally go on vacation. We went to Ocean City, MD and rented a house on the bay. Here is our lovely house with a great screened porch.The highlights of our vacation include:
Visiting the very crowded boardwalk and playing a few games. The whole family gathered to play my favorite horse racing game that involves rolling balls into the holes and moving either 1, 2 or 3 spaces. All 6 of us were shocked (and highly disappointed) when the one non-family member playing won the game. Sean did win the Sesame Street garbage pail game and I won Wack-a-mole.We spent many days under our 40 year old beach umbrella so we wouldn't burn while reading and walking on the beach. One day it flew up and hit Mom on the head.
One day we all went parasailing. It was my first time. Sean and I went up together so we wouldn't be lonely during our 12 minutes in the air. It was fun, but I enjoyed the boat ride more.
Mom also decided she would try. Robert and Mom rode together. Afterwards, Mom was so excited to have parasailed, she gave the guide a big hug. She was mostly super pleased that the guide didn't bring her down into the water... The rest of us got to touch our toes in the water, but he gave Mom a totally dry landing, which was great since she dislikes the water. Ann and I rode again together. We weren't so lucky and fell into an air pocket. Instead of just getting our toes wet, our butts got soaked. That was my favorite part.
Rob rented a boat for our trip. They went fishing three times and I accompanied them on their second trip. Between three outings, the family caught about 30 fish.... and not one was over the legal size to keep. I got 4 or 5 fish in my 2 hour outing!

The last night we split up... I went mini golfing with Mom and Dad while the others went to a bar to see a pre-season football game. It was nice to finally get a way and relax with several good books.

Paint

I desperately want my entire house painted. I desperately don't want to do it myself.

I sucked it up this weekend and painted another room. When we moved in the entire house was painted white (flat paint). Stark white. Last fall I finally painted the dining room and I think it turned out nice.

Today I tackled the family room. I've been trying to decide on colors for months and have changed my mind so many times. I finally decided to paint two walls a color called Vermeer's Pearl and the wall in between, Blue Light. Blue Light is my "accent" wall although it is a very light blue. I figure if you don't like your accent wall later, a light color is easy to change, although it's really not a true accent wall. I ordered the paint from Home Depot, but I used the Glidden brand. The colors looked white when I came home with them. The Pearl color was even more stark white then I had originally. It was almost laughable since I was trying to get a way from white.

The paint job looks OK now. The colors look good together and I think it will pull my pictures and furniture together quite nicely once I get everything back together. It's kind of what I was expecting and the Pearl (which has just a hint of blue if you look closely in the right light, with your head at the right angle when the sun is 2pm) makes the room look bright which is a good thing. Last time I painted I used Behr (Home Depot's brand) and I was pleased. I probably won't buy the Glidden paint again. Maybe it was me, but maybe the paint just wasn't that great when it comes to covering the wall. Ha - there's my consumer report for you!

Next on the agenda is the kitchen and the bathrooms. I want to paint the bathrooms with my leftover colors that is the only reason they are up at the top of the list! I hate to waste and store paint for a decade like what seems to happen in households across America!

Catch Up

Where do I start? First, is anyone even still checking this blog? Doubtful at this point. It is hard to believe how quickly summer is zooming by. Most of what is going on in life isn't blog material so I'll have to start being creative!

Last weekend, Sean and I finally found some time for a long weekend out of town. We only travelled about 70 miles but it was nice to spend some quality time in Harper's Ferry, WV. We stayed at a great B&B that had an amazing view of the river and the train tracks. Great view, not the best place for a good night's rest. The trains come by constantly and because of the tunnel, there is a lot of honking. Which means a lot of tossing and turning. We had a great suite and there were two resident cats that we hung out with when possible. One night I watched one attack a snake from the deck. I was going to go help the toad get away from the cat, but luckily I got a glimpse in the moonlight before I went down there. It was just a small snake and this cat was enthralled by it.

We went white water tubing and paid a visit to the casino. In the evening we would have dinner and then come back to sit on the glorious deck to watch the moon rise, the trains go by, the deer passing through, a cat attacking a snake and whatever else came our way. We had a bottle of champagne and enjoyed conversations with the other guests. It was nice to spend few nights out of town.

A Specimen to Remember

We are not fans of our current vet. When Lonestar suffered from his Urinary Tract Disease in December we took him to an emergency clinic because that was our only choice. We took him to our vet for a follow up and then during another visit with Alamo, we mentioned Lonestar's past blockage problem. The vet told us we needed to bring in another sample just to make sure no more crystals were forming.
"Please bring in a urine sample so we can check," says the vet. Nice lady, but come on. I'm thinking she's a quack.
I was open to any suggestions -so I asked. She suggested the obvious way and then decided to give me 3 pee cups, each including about a 1/3 cup of mini rocks. Apparently the little rocks don't absorb the pee, so when he goes, I can use a syringe to capture the pee and voila, there's the sample. Of course I have to get a fresh litter pan for this and make sure I've got his pee and not Alamo's. Ever since we've started monitoring the litter pan (long story for another day), the cats have decided they want more privacy.

Lonestar likes to dig and cover. A cup of rocks was not going to suffice so I combined the three cups worth of mini-rocks. This gave me a clean cup, just in case I caught Lonestar in the act.

Last night, as Sean and I were having a routine conversation at the litter box, Lonestar came in to take a whiz. I realized this was my chance. I grabbed the cup and stuck it under him. He was a bit surprised. Bless that cat... he did not get scared and run away like I presumed he would. I managed to hold the cup at the right place and got a few tablespoons of pee in the cup. Even more surprisingly, I didn't get a drop on my hand or the outside of the cup.

I know you are wondering why this is blog worthy. But, you have to admit, this is pretty amazing right? I got a urine sample from a cat the old fashioned way.

Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus

To put it quite simply, this product is awesome. I've used it once, for less than 5 minutes, and I already know I love it. I have had the Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus Food Processor in a closet (in the box) for over two years. It was a registry item that I knew I wanted, but I was waiting for the right moment to use it. I chose this because it was small and I knew I didn't expect to use it very often. But, when I did, I wanted it to be the right tool for the right job. It is!

I've been boiling chicken to feed Alamo a bland diet in order to help her current health issues. After boiling the chicken, I had been using my Pampered Chef manual chopper tool. This was arduous and my chopper never really worked well. Works great for chopping peanuts, not so much for onions and chicken. I do not like the Pampered Chef chopper and do not recomment it to anyone. After watching Sean try for several minutes to grind the chicken with the Pampered Chef tool, I knew I needed another solution.

I decided to bring out my Cuisinart to see if it could grind the chicken more easily. The results: It was quick and it did a great job. I can't believe I waited this long.

The Cuisinart Mini is meant for small jobs and is very simple. Once the bowl and lid are locked in place, you can either grind or chop. So far I have only used the grind function.

Pros:
-Easy! (I did have to read the instructions because I didn't realize the lid needed to lock in a certain way, however within 2 minutes we had it figured out.
-Effective - grinded the chicken chunks in less than 5 seconds.
-Small - great for quick and small jobs. Easy to store
-Easy to clean - self explanatory
-Fun to use - Equivalent to what Crayola meant to me when I was 6.

Cons:
-Small - although this is also a pro, I wish I had a bigger one so I could shred everything. It would take a while to make cole slaw for a party.
-Fragile? - I think if the bowl or lid was dropped it woud probably break. Maybe not, but how do I test this without losing my new beloved product?
-Safety - no easy way to store the blade so no one accidentally cuts themself. It looks darn sharp, but again, it is supposed to be.

If you need to grind and chop small servings of food for yourself, a baby or a cat, this might be the machine for you! I now believe a food processor is a must have!

Kenmore Elite Oasis HE (#27072) Day 1

Today I washed 4 loads of clothes with my new washing machine. Although it is early to say, here are my initial thoughts on this product.

1. Delivery - The Sears delivery duo was quick, effective and knew what they were doing. Both were pleasant although our conversation was sparse. Very nice and professional. Delivered machine right in the middle of my two hour window.

2. Appearance - Looks good. Lots of buttons and green and red lights while the machine is in use. I passed on the glass lid. Sure enough, I found myself dying to see what was going on inside the whole time. Oh well. Time to use my imagination

3. Here is my response to several common comments I found on several review sites:
- "Uses less water!" Yes, it most certainly does. While listening (wishing I could see) to the machine run, I didn't hear that much water. I actually wondered if it was using any water. The clothes did come out wet, so I'm positive water was used in the process.
- "It's so quiet." It is fairly quiet, but I think that is because the noisy part is the water filling the bucket and it uses so much less that you don't get all of the noise. It makes some strange alien noises, but overall it's quiet. Except for the annoying triple beep that tells you the load is done, but you can turn this off if you so choose.
- "It uses very little soap." I bought the special HE soap and it uses about 2-3 tablespoons per load. Hard to believe it is really enough to clean, but I suppose it does. The clothes smelled fresh and clean, but I'll need to wash some dirtier clothes.
- "The spin cycle works so well, I barely have to use the dryer." These people are smoking crack or have a better dryer than I do. I have not noticed that my dryer time has decreased noticeably, but I'll keep testing. I did notice one shirt looked dry in parts when I took it out of the washer, but I wasn't sure if that was because of the spin cycle or because it never got wet.
- "My clothes have never been cleaner." Hard to tell. I did notice some black marks on a pair of khaki pants near the ankle after they were washed and dried. Possibly this needed to be stain-sticked before putting them in, possibly the machine isn't that great, possibly it's a stain that has been there for a while. Jury is still out on this.
- "The spin cycle makes my clothes wrinkled, knotted and mangled." Wrinkled? Definitely. I've never seen so many in the cotton dress shirts. I will say by the time I shook them out and dried them, they looked about the same as they usually did with my other machine.
Knotted? Yes, a few pieces were knotted together, however I didn't need a boy scout to separate the items.
Mangled? Nah, I'd say that is a little extreme.
- "The bucket is so big and washes so much." Yes, the capacity is huge. If I liked to mix my darks with lights, I could have done all of today's laundry in 2.5-3 loads.

I'll update my thoughts as I learn more with my new washer. Would I recommend it? Not sure yet, but I'll have my answer within 3 months. Do I love it? No. Do I like it much better than the piece of crap Roper that I booted out the door earlier today. Absolutely. Do I find myself wondering what else I can wash around the house? Yes. Do I wish I would have splurged for the glass lid. No comment.

Washing Machine Blues

Besides baking, I spend a lot of time reading product reviews. Why you ask? Because everything in the house keeps breaking.

About three weeks ago our washing maching started this annoying habit of stopping mid cycle. We discovered if we pushed on the lid (to activate the switch I can't see but know is there), it would start up again. After another week, a push did not work and we had to perform CPR-like thrusts. Cursing also helped. What used to take 30 minutes for a load of clothes, would now take closer to 60 because you have to babysit, coddle and prod the machine. It would stop working a few times through one cycle.

I still had the owner's manual (was given to me when I bought the house 2 years ago) and called the service department. I dislike this washing machine. It has no features, it rips my clothing sometimes and leaves black streaks on my whites. But since it was only 2 years old, I figured I would just get it fixed. This would probably cost about $100. The service department told me based on the serial number, it was purchased in 1999. I am amazed the flippers we bought the house from have a manual for a 9 year old machine. Needless to say I was disappointed. I bought a new dryer three months ago, and had I seen this coming, I would have bought a set.

I started reading reviews on washing machines. I am very interested in the new front loader technology. I like the idea of less water, and room for huge loads. Washing machines are expensive and many of the reviews aren't positive. This decision was extremely stressful. Literally, I thought I was going to have an indecision meltdown in Sears. (This was my third trip to a store to check out washing machines.) I narrowed the choice down to a standard agitator style machine that was pretty big and a High Efficieny Top Loader. I took Sean with me to assist in the buying process and hold my hand.
I decided against the front loader because I had no desire to bend all the way over to put clothes in and pull out, and if I got a pedestal, the washer would be a foot higher than my new non-techy dryer.

Option 1: Whirlpool Cabrio with Agitator
Pros:
-Uses more water (some feel that more water gets clothes cleaner)
-Uses regular soap
-Washes fairly large loads
-Less expensive
-Agitators have been around for years
-Stainless steel bucket
-Nice push botton controls and knob

Cons:
-Uses more water
-Can fit Queen size comforter (I have a King bed)
-Push button controls (repair costs?)

Option 2: Whirlpool HE Top Loader (the one we looked at had a glass top)
Pros:
-Uses less water
-Uses HE soap which many brands now make
-Washes large loads - King sized comforter
-Stainless steel bucket
-Nice push botton controls and knob
-Washes more towels than I own

Cons:
-Repairs (if needed) are fairly expensive
-Expense
-Reviews state that clothes are left wrinkled and mangled due to the high speed spin cycle
-Clothes take longer to wash (than your standard older machines), but I'm told the time and energy is made up with much less dryer time.


My heart truly wanted the huge bucket (option 2). I'm tired of taking my big blankets to the laundromat. This machine had a glass top which looks nice, but is it practical? I don't see myself watching my laundry spin, however I do see us setting tools on top of it and cats jumping on it and more. Being the bargain hunter I am, I asked if it would be cheaper to get a model without a glass top. Yes!

It came down to this:
1. Option 2 machine w/glass lid could be delivered March 1.
2. Option 2 without a glass top could be delivered March 13.
3. Option 3 presented itself. The salesperson offered us a Kenmore machine, very similar to Option 2, for $50 less that what they were asking for the Kenmore on the price tag, and less than option 2 w/glass. The clincher, they would deliver tomorrow! President's Day! And we already have the day off. Score.

Stay tuned for the full review. We will hook it up tomorrow and I will wash!

What keeps me busy?

Greetings from VA. I've been quite behind on my blog lately. I thought I would take a few minutes to update my few, buy loyal, fan club members.

I have been traveling quite a bit, mostly for work. In January, I found myself out of town 10 nights. February will total 7 nights. It's not too bad, but definitely more than usual. The good news is I don't have anything planned starting in March, although that will change. I don't mind business travel too much, but I feel like I spend too much time obsessing about whether to carry on or check baggage. And deciding on what fits in the 1 quart clear plastic bag and what doesn't.

I have discovered a new hobby. It is something I've always enjoyed, but just recently learned how much. I like to cook and I like to bake. I have several cookbooks that I have received as gifts and a few that I have bought myself. Just recently, I realized that when I get a cookbook, I actually read it. The whole thing. I make a mental note of what I want to try. When a good friend gave me the Ultimate Cookie Cookbook, I read it before I went to bed. Half way through, I thought, who reads a cookbook when they are in bed? I've had this deep yearning to develop a specialty and now I'm working on cookies. Each weekend I try to make time to bake a new kind whether or not I think I will like them. (Although I have started with ones that I think I will like.) I've never really liked nuts or oatmeal or lots of things, but who cares. I'm baking cookies and I'm trying new things. I take them to work, send them into Sean's work, or when I meet friends out, I take a sample. This way I can enjoy the baking aspect but I don't feel inclined to eat every single delicious, fattening, or potentially crappy cookie myself! It's been fun. So far I've enjoyed everything, but I've only baked 4 types. With any luck, maybe others will like them and buy a couple dozen for their own parties.

I've also been baking homemade bread. I've discoverd with my Kitchenaid mixer (with bread hook), it's not really that hard.

I've talked about what keeps me busy, but what keeps me perpetually tired is the fact I can't get a good night's sleep. Lonestar is party animal at night. He whines and cries, runs around the bedroom, scratches the side of the mattress, terrorizes Alamo and and is an all-around nuisance. I need to lock him out of the bedroom... I get that this is easily solved. We are are yet to do that because the crying outside the door and the vigorous shaking of the door from a large orange paw is just as annoying.

Alamo has lost quite a bit of weight lately. A diet success story! Well, until you see how much goes in and how much comes out. We are proceeding with thyroid tests. The symptoms seem likely but she is still fairly young.

We are starting to work out the details to replace our back fence. One of our posts broke and the fence has quite a lean. We live in a townhome development so the key is to take care of this before we get cited by the HOA (again). We are accepting volunteers.

Second Annual Cookie Bake

It was cold on Sunday so I spent the day the best way I know how. I invited the girls over and we baked Christmas cookies. We started by making the sugar cookie dough after voting that the sour cream that was past the 'best by' date was OK to use. (It did pass the smell test, so no worries. ) After we had the sugar cookie dough in the fridge, we made the most perfect Peanut Butter Blossom cookies, followed by Christmas trees which didn't turn out that well. We completed our cookie journey with a double batch of Chocolate Chip cookies.

We started the day at noon with lunch and stopped at 7pm for dinner. After spending an hour or so decorating the sugar cookies, everyone parted around 8:30pm. We spent a good 7 to 8 hours making cookies! Talk about a long day.

We had a blast while listening to Christmas songs, trying out a dough baller, cursing the cookie press and wondering, 'what is wrong with this dough?'

Chelsi was the Dough Baller Committee Chair, Barb was the sugar cookie dough roller Committe Chair, I was the cleaning Committee Chair, and Amy self-appointed herself, Chair of the 'let me sit on the chair.' Sean, of course, was Chair of QC.

Thanks to my culinary friends for a productive afternoon. Happy Eating!

The Bakers Four

Perfect Peanut Butter Blossoms

Cookie Cutters! No two cookies were the same in this batch and many were quite odd.

Introducing our new patio...

After ground-level deck removed:

Getting ready to lay the paver stones:
The finished product!

Another view:

Weekend Getaway

Hello!

After spending the past few weekends waiting and paying for our new patio to be put down and painting the dining room (the first room of our house to see another color beside stark white), it was time to take a weekend just for ourselves. October is truly the best month of the year, so anytime we can spend enjoying it outdoors is a great day in my book.

I decided to take Friday off so Sean and I headed down to Williamsburg, VA around 1:00pm. Traffic was quite heavy so it took us over 3 hours to get there. We stayed at a very basic Country Inn Suites. After a short nap we went to a nice dinner. I had researched a few places to eat and just wrote down the addresses. It was so nice to just type the address into our navigation system and voila, we were there without any fuss.

Saturday we spent the day at Williamsburg touring around. I do not know if I had every walked through colonial Williamsburg in the past or not, but it was a neat (and possibly new) experience. The weather was absolutely perfect. About 70 or so degrees, just right for jeans, a t-shirt and removing the sweatshirt every hour and then putting it back on. There was not a cloud in the sky. It was a little early for changing foliage but we could tell it won't be long.

Sunday we woke up later than planned and opted to avoid the complimentary breakfast at the hotel. It was a complete mad house the day before... teenagers arrived in their pjs without shoes, long lines, watered down juice, frozen cream cheese, and you had to microwave the bacon, sausage and eggs if you wanted it. But, the lesson here is for $89/night, you get what you pay for. I learn this lesson every time I cheap-out, but always forget it in time for the next trip. The hotel however was fairly clean (we assume the big stain on the carpet was coffee) and the bed was comfortable. And the train across the street never woke us up as long as we had the fan running.

We spent a few hours on Sunday touring Yorktown Battle field. This was pretty cool, which means a lot coming from someone who got a C in history most years. The driving tour was awesome. It was a one way road, just wide enough for a car and maybe a horse. There were beautiful tall trees just along the edge of the road and we were lucky to pass several beautiful horses and dogs. One guy was on a horse, holding a leash with his dog at the end. Would he be horsing his dog? (you know, versus walking his dog?)

After a quick stop at the Williamsburg Pottery Factory (which was the largest flea market I've ever seen), we headed home to take care of our very angry cats. They hate to be left alone!

Here we are posing for a quick shot by a cannon.

Don't try this at home.

Indulge!

Can anyone tell what this is a picture of? Go ahead, guess... I'll wait.



This is a picture of my husband sitting on the sidewalk in front of our house. It is taken with my new Navigation system and camera!! How cool is this? I throw my new vehicle in reverse, and it shows me what is behind me on this lovely screen inside. In this case, it is my husband that was behind me. This camera kept me from backing up over the curb and running him over. Well, not really, but this is just one of the cool features of our new Honda CR-V EX-L w/Navigation. The navigation system worked great on the way home, and we were very impressed with the detail. This is going to help me many times I'm sure.


We've been thinking about buying a new car for awhile and today we took off a day of work and did just that. I've been researching for a while. I really liked the Subarus but wasn't impressed with the lack of backseat leg room. I wanted AWD, comfortable seats, and a sedan-like feel. Oh, and leather seats and moonroof were a perk. One day after looking up the competitors of the Subaru Forester on http://www.edmunds.com/ (love this site!) I decided to just take a look at the Honda CR-V. I noticed there were very few negative comments about this car. It had everything I wanted, and everything I didn't need. I also really liked the newly designed 2007 body style. To make a long story short (if it isn't already too late), we bought this vehicle today. I will say this.... this is my first foreign car, and it better live up to its reputation. I did feel a pang of guilt today for turning this new leaf.

To my old Buick: I don't blame you for giving us terrible trade-in value. I'm sorry your Low Coolant light has been on for 18 months, I hope you will find someone to fix that. I will always love you and remember that you were my first real car purchase that I did all by myself in TX. You were worth every penny and I enjoyed our 6+ years together. Take care of yourself and don't let that nasty Honda salesman or anyone put you down for being an American car. Stand tall.

As Seen on TV Update

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Whoever first said this was a genius. Roll and Grow turned out to be a complete and utter bust. I'd post a picture of what I have in my yard right now, but another bit of energy devoted to Roll and Grow isn't worth it. I have nothing in my yard except for some degrading fuzz.
I bought two by accident. I'll save the other one until next year and give it to someone who might have better growing conditions to see if it works. I had maybe 15 sprouts that never got over 2 inches. Perhaps I didn't have enough sunlight for them as my yard is shaded by many trees. Perhaps, it is just a crappy product.

However, something new that I have found much delight in is shelfari.com. I quickly joined after an invite and it's a great book review sharing community. If you decide there is a book that strikes your fancy, you can link to amazon.com instantly. Brilliant. I suggest you check it out if you like reading!

Act Your Age!

Do you ever feel like you just don't belong? In fact, you feel so out of place, you worry that people think you are weird, or a freak, or worse.... a pervert.

Sean and I have found ourselves in this very realm lately. Let's go through the list:

1. Snore and Roar - We were the only ones there without children and joked that people probably thought we were weird. This was only the beginning.

2. On our one rainy day at the beach we went to see a movie. We wanted something fun and light hearted and playing at the nearby theater, so we chose Surf's Up. Again, we were old adults without children. We expected this.

3. The Pirate Ship - While in Ocean City, we stayed in Montego Bay. We rented a lovely 3 Bedroom house with a nice view of the bay. Several times a day we would hear pirate activity out on the water as we watched people spraying down smaller boats from the pirate ship with water cannons. From the dock, it looked like a party cruise, and something we wanted to do. On the last day of our vacation, Sean and I ponied up $36 for the both of us and went to board the Pirate Ship. We declined the $6 bandanna but as I began to grab a free eye patch, I noticed a crew member painting tattoos. Then I noticed that most everyone there had a hand painted moustache and skulls pained on their arms and were wearing eye patches. And everyone was under 3 feet tall. I quickly put the eye patch back in the bowl because I was afraid everyone would mistake me for the Shrek sized 7 year old and with the limited vision, I might trip on a little person. On this cruise, we were looking for sunken treasure and we had to take down the other pirates using the big water cannons. No where on the advertisement was it implied that you might be bored if you don't bring a pre-schooler.

The entire cruise was geared towards kids. The kids got to sign their name to the flag that was hoisted on the sail. At one point I was standing in the sun which happened to put me right beside a water cannon. When it was time to spray two pirates in a little motor boat, I thought SCORE! I've got my own cannon. The captain walked right past me and said, "we have a cannon over here." So this little boy took my cannon and when I asked if we could share, the mother glared at me. ARRRR, I thought in my pirate voice. So I went back to the bow and sat with Sean.
When we brought the treasure on board, it was full of jelly bracelets, gaudy rings, spiders and more. Fun junk. The kids took all of it. I finally reached over and grabbed one bright pink jelly bracelet for a souvenir, but I had to make my arm really skinny and slide it between two greedy boys who were bent over the treasure box. I guess we should have considered ourselves lucky that we got to share Pete's grog that was fished out of the bay for us. It tasted a lot like root beer, and we all got to share it.

4. Upon returning from Ocean City, Sean and I decided to take a bike ride this past Sunday. We finished our ride and decided to eat our picnic lunch on a set of bleachers in the shade. While eating, teenage boys starting arriving. We were sitting beside a baseball diamond. We learn that the kids are scrimmaging today and we enjoy watching. Then it happened. We saw it coming but froze in our tracks. From the dugout, emerges an excited Frank. (I mean a man, not a hotdog.) "Hi, I'm Frank. I don't think we have met. I'm Todd's father. Which one is yours?" He shakes Sean's hand as he introduces himself and Sean tells Frank his name. I shake his hand and introduce myself just as we finally get out that, "We are just passing through and eating our lunch." Frank is clearly embarrassed about his generous introduction and having to shake our dirty hands, but not as embarrassed as we were.

We realized that one day our kids are going to want to do these fun adventures and we'll have to tell them... "We've already done that. You'll have to find someone else to go with. It was lame, go with one of your little friends."

We also know we better watch our reputation and stop hanging out with munchkins so much.

Ocean City

Last week Sean and I joined my family for a week in Ocean City. It had been a long time since all of us had vacationed together. It will probably be a long time before any of us try it again.

The week started with a boat race. The Not Guilty team had spent the prior week getting repairs done, so it was no surprise that 60 minutes before the race began they found that the trim tab was no longer working. After a few attempts to bang this and that, it would not work even though just a few minutes before, it did. A lot of good ideas were discussed, but with such little time, Team Not Guilty had to figure out a plan. The discussion goes something like this every time:

Ray: Always something, I don't think we should race.

Rob: We're racing, it won't matter.

Ray: I don't think we should race.

Rob: It will be fine. I'll put extra ballast (on top of the two bags the sandman aka Gary had already bought that morning) up in the front and set the trim where it needs to be.

Ray: (to me) I don't think this is a good idea, but your brother always wants to disagree.

So they decide to race. Meanwhile Mom, Sean and I head to 15th street where we watch the race. It is one of the best races we've seen. We can identify Not Guilty without binoculars (barely) and they are passing other boats..... and getting passed.... and then passing again on the inside of the curve. It's an actual race with 7 boats in their class. One boat in their class is way out ahead but the one boat that usually wins slows down on lap 5. We know this is good news. After the final lap we head to the inlet.

For the next several hours we wonder if our boat 'broke out' or if by some chance R2 miscounted the number of laps and didn't finish where they thought they did. It turns out that the first lap which was supposed to be the parade lap was actually part of the race and they (along with many others) ran an extra lap. We go to the party and eat lots of great food. Then we nervously await the results.

Class 6 goes first... 3rd place: The 611 boat! We cheer because this means, Team Not Guilty will be taking home the Silver Medal and a large trophy, that looks more like a plant stand, and a nice check!

We were very excited that the ballast in the boat paid off!

Snore and Roar

Upon moving back to DC, I learned about Snore and Roar. Last year Sean and I became FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo) members so we could register for Snore & Roar, a camp-out at the zoo that would give us an opportunity to get backstage of one of the offered exhibits. Last year we registered for the Primate House, however it was rained out. We joined again in 2007, so we could go to Snore and Roar. Friday after work we headed to the zoo to begin our Snore & Roar Adventure. Let me tell you this: We were super excited. We had paid extra for the Great Cats tour. Although extra, we knew that this was the way to go, and passed on the Small Mammal house, the Reptile House, the Birds, and some of the other less exciting options. We arrived right on time and began assembling our tent under a big beautiful tree on the flattest ground we could find. We then watched the fathers show up with their daughters. The Mothers with their sons. The lady with her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend. (this was just strange, and they all looked miserable.)

Sean and I chuckled that we were the only childless people there and started coming up with ideas on how we could scare the children at night. (Don't worry, no children were harmed or scared!)

After approximately 11 tents were erected, for three Snore and Roar programs (Great Cats, Cheetahs and Pandas), we broke into our group of 10 and went back to where the tigers and lions are kept. Sean and I were totally excited at this point and pushed our way to the front. We had to stand behind a yellow line which was about 3 feet from the cages. Some of the cats just stared at us, some paced back and forth, others jumped on the cage wanting to play or eat us. Last year, 3 Sumatran Tiger cubs were born and we went to the zoo for their debut. Now they are close to 150 pounds and were a blast to watch. The lions weren't as exciting although the young male was very excited to see us and paced back and forth in clumsy fashion.



The Lioness is mostly relaxed.
One of the tiger cubs eagerly looks at the tourists. The most fun was playing with the cubs. I would look at one and then start walking down the hallway, looking over my shoulder and it would follow me to the end of the enclosure, which meant it might have to go through a couple of cat doors that they were allowed to pass through. I was more entertained than the cub.

Now I have mixed feelings about the whole zoo concept, but it was definitely a wonderful experience to get that close to these beautiful animals. After about an hour we got to feed two animals which have strange and forgettable names. One looked like a small anteater and the other like a large rat. This wasn't exciting in the least, but it stalled for time while the other group went into the cat house.

After the exhibit tour we went on a flashlight tour. We only saw a few duck families, a sleeping Red Panda, squawking flamingos and the alligator. Oh, and huge cranes.

Upon returning to our tent, we got ready for bed and listened to the kids settle down. It did thunder during the night, but luckily no one evacuated us, and no children started screaming as I feared there would be an uproar. Around 5am, I heard a noise which I cannot replicate in words, nor can I mock with my voice. I can only guess it was some sort of bird and probably one of those very large cranes we spotted the night before. Well, the cranes had a lot to say and it was no surprise that everyone was up and tents were down before 7am.

By 8am we were home, wishing we could have slept near the cats instead of the kids and birds. I would have like to cozy up with this guy...

This lion finally calmed down for a few minutes to sit and smile for me.

Go Seagulls!

Congratulations to the Salisbury University Men's Lacrosse Team!
This past Sunday, at M&T stadium, Salisbury added another NCAA Championship (Division III)to their wall of fame!
I didn't know they were even playing until the 4th quarter, when we found the game on the TV, otherwise I would have gone to see the game in person.

Viva Las Vegas

This past Thursday, Sean, my parents and I headed to Las Vegas for a long weekend. My parents have never been and being the high roller my mother is, we thought it would be a fun weekend for all. We arrived at the Monte Carlo Casino Thursday evening and met up with Sean's friend, Don. We had a quick bite to eat and then off to bed.

Overall, the Monte Carlo was a modest and adequate place to stay. We chose it because it was one of better deals and I liked the location. Not to mention I was excited about the Lazy River. I was dismayed to find two double beds in the room, but although I had requested a King, I did not ask at the front desk. The beds were uncomfortable, the comforters in a bad shape and the choice of dining in our hotel seemed to be minimal compared to others. But, I have stayed in a lot worse. (Ask me about Vegas in 1998!)

On Friday, Sean competed in a poker tournament while the rest of us ventured down the strip. We visited the MGM Grand, Paris, NY NY and others. After we had enough of the heat, Dad and I hit the pool while Mom hit the slot machines. One of the highlights of the trip was the Lazy River that I mentioned. It's essentially a river (chlorinated of course) with current! And it was fun. We bypassed the $14 tube and went tube-less. A nice refreshing way to remove the grime each day.

The highlight of the trip has to be our visit to the Price Is Right show. Very similar to the show we all know and love, except it is not televised, the prizes aren't as great and sadly, no Bob. I give credit to the show for trying to include as many people as possible. For each of the 6 games, 4 people get called down to bid, different people spin the wheel, different people in the showcase showdown, and random people win casino credits throughout the show. Lots and lots of winners. Now I've been using my DVR to record TPIR and practice the past several weeks. This was not just a show to me. This was serious bidness.

Come on down! Notice the coordinated shirts. Serious Bidness for sure.

Each person has a small device that we use to punch in the letter of the most expensive item showing on the screen. Those who get the question right are eligible to be called to come on down. It is fairly random, but it helps to get as many questions right as you can.
For the third game, the third person:
Kristin Walsh come on down! Ack! Whoohoo! I jumped up and ran down to contestants row. It's really happening I thought. I was very nervous, but yay for me. I knew that the stuffing was more than the rice cakes and definitely more than the jello back in 1986.

The showgirls roll out a juicer. I don't recognize the brand and to be honest, I'm not sure it's a juicer. It could be one of those old fashioned hair dryers for all I know. The first guy bids $120. The second lady, $69. I think it is more than $69 but less than $100. I take $79. The grandma beside me takes $199. I think I have it in the bag. The actual retail price is: $125. %&^&^
Oh man, you got to be kidding! I pick up my free T-Shirt and amble back to my seat feeling rejected, dejected, and bummed. Really bummed. The guy didn't win Cliffhanger, but I think I would have.

Later, we hear Mom's name! She runs down to contestants row just like a pro. Unfortunately she bid $59.95 on a scale and we all laughed at her. She revised her bid to $59 (and swears that is how much hers cost. This scale was over $100.) A few minutes later she came up with her free t-shirt too. All in all, it was a lot of fun. I thought about going the next day but did not.

Saturday, we visited the Hoover Dam and the Rio Buffet. We also visited old Las Vegas.
After spending a quiet day Sunday checking out the lions at MGM, getting a facial and spending more time at the Lazy River, we went to see O at the Bellagio. Very impressive show, if only just thinking about the logistics of the stage which was usually a deep pool, but quickly transformed into a regular stage.

We flew back on Monday night. Mom was lucky enough to win $567, however we never found out how much she spent to win that money. Fun was had by all, I just hope someone takes the time to clean the littered streets and extinguish just half of the cigarettes. While spending time in lavish and glitzy Vegas, I also read a great book about a place that is nothing like Vegas making my trip very reflective. More on that later.