After my job search earlier this year, it became painfully obvious to me that I need to overhaul my resume. I use the traditional style of resume in which I list all of my job experiences from most recent and backwards, along with a list of what I did, my education, etc., etc., etc. We took a class in college before graduation about interviewing, resume writing, and cover letters. We were told not to make our resumes too fancy or frilly, or else they'd get thrown out.
Earlier this week, one of my friends handed me her resume to review.
What I saw has caused me to rethink the way that I write my resume, and has me pondering what I need to do to update this very crucial piece of paper.
Did you know - there are now 2 different styles of resumes? Functional and Chronological? Chronological is the kind of resume that I was taught back in college. Functional is the type of resume that is ideal for people like me - who have had employment gaps and a lot of volunteer experiences over the years. (http://www.bcpl.info/find-info/jobs-careers#resume-cover-letter)
After looking at both types of resumes, I'm going to play around with the Functional format and see how that looks when I'm finished.
I've also been looking at the formatting. No longer are names and addresses written directly down the middle. They are offset, either to the left or the right. You can even play with font size! I don't want to make the font too small... I want people to be able to read my contact information! But, I can also play with the font that I use. No, I'm not thinking of Comic Sans! Maybe I could use Calibri instead of Times New Roman. What about Helvetica? So many choices!!!
You know, I'm very happy where I am now. One of these days, though, I'm going to try to get a promotion and I'm going to need an updated resume. It seems as if now is the time to start working on it. Now, while I have the time to play around with the formatting, the text, and the styles.
What style of resume do you use?
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Green Bean Casserole
I tried something new this year! I absolutely love Green Bean Casserole, but finding a version that is gluten free and dairy free is next to impossible! This year, I attempted to make my own version of this classic. I started with store brand Gluten Free Crispy Fried Onions. My biggest challenge was attempting to find something that resembled Cream of Mushroom Soup. I found Imagine's Portobello Mushroom Creamy Soup (Dairy Free) at our local health food store.
I figured, what the heck? What do I have to lose? So, I followed the recipe on the back of the onion can. I measured out the equivalent amount of Portobello Mushroom soup as the recipe on the back of the can asked for both the cream of mushroom soup and the milk, combined.
One stint in the oven later, and we had a gluten and dairy free version of green bean casserole. We took a tentative taste, and ...... it was delicious! It's a bit runnier than the more traditional version, but good heavens it was good! Finally, three years after I found out that I had to go Gluten Free, and one year after I found out about the dairy allergy, the Green Bean Casserole is back! Oh, happy day!
Would I made any improvements? Next time, I think I might use another can of crispy onions. I'm looking forward to playing with this wonderful combination for years to come!
Monday, November 28, 2016
Monday Musings 11/28
Kids
It was great having all the kids home! They all went back to their respective homes on Saturday, and the house seems very empty without them. I consoled myself by going to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Dr. Strange with daughter on Sunday afternoon! I still miss the boys, but by golly, I also really enjoyed the movie!
Smoke Detectors
No smoke detectors went off this year! What? What madness is this? Honestly, I picked up the pies and several of the side dishes from Whole Foods, so I guess that's why my oven remained intact. I still have more turkey than we know what to do with! The turkey carcass has been boiled down for soup, and I've got scads of meat that I'm going to have to freeze soon before it goes bad. I saved out the turkey neck, and I'll be making turkey neck soup with the neck - along with all of the leftover vegetables - for dinner tonight.
Dishwasher
Still no dishwasher. They won't be able to install it until NEXT Tuesday. Another week without a dishwasher. I know, I know - first world problems. I was the dishwasher growing up, but that doesn't mean that I like it! On the other hand, the kitchen is cleaner than usual because I am cleaning as I go. I really don't like having a huge pile of dishes facing me at the end of the day.
Central Intelligence
We watched this movie with the kids on Friday night. Have you seen it yet? Seriously, you need to see it! Kevin Hart and "The Rock". I wouldn't watch it with little kids, but I would watch it with anybody middle school and older. It's a great, fun plot, well acted, with just enough wild twists to keep you guessing until the very, very end. Boy howdy, this was a fantastic movie! It's a recent release, too.
Enjoy your week!
It was great having all the kids home! They all went back to their respective homes on Saturday, and the house seems very empty without them. I consoled myself by going to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Dr. Strange with daughter on Sunday afternoon! I still miss the boys, but by golly, I also really enjoyed the movie!
Smoke Detectors
No smoke detectors went off this year! What? What madness is this? Honestly, I picked up the pies and several of the side dishes from Whole Foods, so I guess that's why my oven remained intact. I still have more turkey than we know what to do with! The turkey carcass has been boiled down for soup, and I've got scads of meat that I'm going to have to freeze soon before it goes bad. I saved out the turkey neck, and I'll be making turkey neck soup with the neck - along with all of the leftover vegetables - for dinner tonight.
Dishwasher
Still no dishwasher. They won't be able to install it until NEXT Tuesday. Another week without a dishwasher. I know, I know - first world problems. I was the dishwasher growing up, but that doesn't mean that I like it! On the other hand, the kitchen is cleaner than usual because I am cleaning as I go. I really don't like having a huge pile of dishes facing me at the end of the day.
Central Intelligence
We watched this movie with the kids on Friday night. Have you seen it yet? Seriously, you need to see it! Kevin Hart and "The Rock". I wouldn't watch it with little kids, but I would watch it with anybody middle school and older. It's a great, fun plot, well acted, with just enough wild twists to keep you guessing until the very, very end. Boy howdy, this was a fantastic movie! It's a recent release, too.
Enjoy your week!
Friday, November 25, 2016
Random Pictures
A few pictures from the last few days....
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| We went to see The Capitol Steps the weekend after the election! |
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| It's like a real life game of Tetris! (Lots of leftovers.) |
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| The mantel decorated for Thanksgiving. Several of those squash were eaten for dinner! |
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| Remember those purple flowers? This is the finished product! |
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| The current reading pile - and Season 5 of one of my favorite shows! |
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| Still no dishwasher - so, another pot of dishes to wash! |
Thursday, November 24, 2016
It's Not Thanksgiving Until the Smoke Detectors Go Off
I originally published this post on 11/28/2014. Enjoy this blast from the past!
It's a tradition in our family. Burning stuff on Thanksgiving Day.
Before the advent of smoke detectors, a smoky kitchen was just that - a smoky kitchen- the neighbors didn't know, and if you acted fast enough, you could turn on enough fans and open enough windows that nobody else would know. Now, everybody knows when you have a cooking disaster on your hands.
The weekend before Thanksgiving, we begin to take bets as to when the smoke detectors will go off. Since I start much of the prep on Wednesday, that is the day that we decide that we are most likely to experience a kitchen disaster of some kind. The person who guesses the correct 2 hour window for the advent of the smoke detectors is excused from washing the dishes after dinner.
Since we were eating at home this year, I decided that I was going to make the pies on Wednesday.
Pies have always been a weak spot for me. Actually anything with a fruit filling has been a problem for me. A particularly memorable occasion comes to mind when I attempted a pineapple upside down cake that ended up setting my oven on fire, as well as setting off the smoke detectors in the apartment building and summoning the fire department bright and early one Thanksgiving morning 25 years ago.
Wednesday afternoon, I started on my favorite pie. It's just not Thanksgiving without a pecan pie.
I mixed the pecans, Karo syrup, eggs, and sugar, and poured it into my carefully prepared pie crust. I slid the pie into the oven. As the smell of toasty pecans began to fill the house, I knew that Thanksgiving was finally here.
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| Special, isn't it? |
As the pie heaved up and down with a life of it's own, I reflected that this might very well be my most spectacular failure yet.
I still had more pecans, so I decided to give another shot at the pie. Unfortunately, I had no more gluten free pie crust mix. So, I decided to make a pecan pie without the crust.
The custard and pecan mix looked beautiful in it's pan. Even without the crust, it looked fantastic.
While the pecan mix cooled, I began on an Apple Crisp. I filled the pan with apples, sugar, and cinnamon, and mixed up the crisp part - with the gluten free oatmeal, gf flour, and vegan butter. (Good heavens, do we know how to live it up or what?)
Remember when I mentioned I have an incredibly bad record with anything involving fruit filling?
15 minutes into the bake time, the smoke detector began wailing away as a thick, black smoke began issuing forth from the oven.
As I was pulling the crisp out of the oven, my next door neighbor came running across the yard, phone in hand, shouting "Do I need to call the fire department, or are you just cooking?"
An aside here, how sad is it, that after 10 years, my neighbors know to come and check when there's black smoke and the sound of smoke detectors before calling 9-1-1?
Somehow, for the 10th year in a row, I was excused from having to wash dishes after Thanksgiving dinner. Purely coincidence, I assure you.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Cooking!
So, who is already cooking?
I picked up the roasted veggies, cranberry sauce, and vegetable tray from Whole Foods earlier today. I picked up our turkey from the farmer yesterday, and a bushel of acorn squash from the farmer down the street last weekend. ($15 for the bushel - great deal for me!)
I made bread crumbs from gluten free bread, made a batch of brownies, picked up middle child from college, and then stopped to pick up the remaining odds and ends that we remembered we needed - pineapple tidbits.
As I'm writing this, I have sweet potatoes roasting in the oven. There's just one little problem, though. We've always had a sweet potato and pineapple juice casserole for Thanksgiving. I make it every year. Every year, I forget where I found the recipe and I end up searching the internet to try and find it again.
I'm also searching for a recipe to use up some coffee that I received at work earlier this week. If you happen to know of a great recipe that uses coffee, I'd love to have it!
Tomorrow morning promises to be a lot of fun! For the first time in years, we aren't going anywhere. We are staying home. We are already planning on sleeping late, and then whenever everything is ready - well, that's when we'll eat. We hope to get out and get a hike in tomorrow morning if it's not raining. Who knows? No matter what, we're looking forward to the day!
I hope your Thanksgiving is joyous and filled with family!
I picked up the roasted veggies, cranberry sauce, and vegetable tray from Whole Foods earlier today. I picked up our turkey from the farmer yesterday, and a bushel of acorn squash from the farmer down the street last weekend. ($15 for the bushel - great deal for me!)
I made bread crumbs from gluten free bread, made a batch of brownies, picked up middle child from college, and then stopped to pick up the remaining odds and ends that we remembered we needed - pineapple tidbits.
As I'm writing this, I have sweet potatoes roasting in the oven. There's just one little problem, though. We've always had a sweet potato and pineapple juice casserole for Thanksgiving. I make it every year. Every year, I forget where I found the recipe and I end up searching the internet to try and find it again.
I'm also searching for a recipe to use up some coffee that I received at work earlier this week. If you happen to know of a great recipe that uses coffee, I'd love to have it!
Tomorrow morning promises to be a lot of fun! For the first time in years, we aren't going anywhere. We are staying home. We are already planning on sleeping late, and then whenever everything is ready - well, that's when we'll eat. We hope to get out and get a hike in tomorrow morning if it's not raining. Who knows? No matter what, we're looking forward to the day!
I hope your Thanksgiving is joyous and filled with family!
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
A Few Good Books
Disclosure Notice: This post contains Affiliate Links.
Oh, how I
love to read a good book! Since shifting
over to a public library, I have shifted to reading more children’s literature.
I have been focusing mostly on books that were nominated as Black Eyed Susan
Nominees for the state of Maryland, as well as several Newberry Award Winners,
and one or two that I found on the shelves that either appealed to me or one of
the kids roaming through the library recommended as “the best, ever”. Today,
I’m sharing 5 gems. I thoroughly enjoyed
each and every one of these books!
Skullduggery Pleasant
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| Image: Amazon |
Stephanie Edgely is a young girl who has just inherited as
her Uncle’s fortune - including his house.
Upon visiting the house, she is attacked by a mysterious group of
magical henchmen. She is saved by her
Uncle’s friend: Skullduggery Pleasant- a walking, talking skeleton who was once
a person but reanimated himself after his death so that he could continue to
fight the dark evil that first killed him.
As Stephanie finds herself drawn into this mysterious,
magical world, she finds that she must learn to protect herself, find a name
that will hide her true identity, and navigate a complicated set of rules and
even more complex people if she wants to survive in both the hidden, magical
world and the “normal” world that you and I inhabit.
This children’s novel combines mystery and magic in a
whimsical combination that fans of Harry Potter will appreciate!
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| Image: Amazon |
Author: Tom Angleberger
What happens when a middle school student makes an origami
creation that looks vaguely like Yoda?
You get a wise advisor who offers students advice on
everything from predicting a pop quiz in science class to saving a classmate
from soul – crushing embarrassment with some pertinent advice.
Wait, there’s a twist…..how can such a wise advisor be
animated by the goofiest kids in school?
You’ll enjoy the case files of Origami Yoda as each of the
kids in the story present their own tales of interaction with Dwight and
Yoda.
Ellie’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Novel
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| Image: Amazon |
This beautiful tale tells the story of a young German Shepherd, Ellie, who is adopted by a man who trains her to play new games and WORK in new and different ways. As the story unfolds, we discover that Ellie is being trained as a working police dog. Told from Ellie’s point of view, we follow her as she finds and saves people along with her officer.
Those of you who love dog stories be warned: The dog does
NOT die, but you will cry at the beautiful interactions with Ellie and her
humans. I loved this story!
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| image: Amazon |
Author: Louis Sachar
What could possibly go wrong when two children take a short
cut through the woods?
Well, the school bully could be out to find them. Determined to teach Marshall a hard lesson,
Chad follows them into the woods. When
Tamaya sees her friend is in trouble, she grabs a handful of mud from the
ground and throws it at Chad’s face so that they can get away.
But, there’s something weird about that mud. It’s fuzzy.
It’s difficult for Tamaya to get it off of her hands.
When she gets home, she discovers that her hands are covered
with a weird kind of rash that itches and isn’t going away. The next morning, the rash has spread and has
gotten worse, leaving the skin on her hands gray and covered with a strange
kind of gray fluff. At school, Tamaya is
horrified to see her rash getting worse and to discover that Chad has not come
to school at all. Looking at her own
hands, she is terrified to think what might have happened to Chad and his face
full of mud. When nobody is looking, she
sneaks out of the school and into the woods to search for Chad. When Marshall discovers that Tamaya is also
missing, he too sneaks out of school and sets out in search of Tamaya and Chad.
What Marshall discovers in the woods can threaten the very
survival of humanity. Can a solution be
found in time?
The War That Saved my Life
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| Image: Amazon |
Ada has been confined to her one room apartment for her
entire life. Her mother has punished her
for the evil within that caused her to be born with a club foot. Without the use of crutches, denied
schooling, and forced to crawl around the apartment like an animal, the outside
world considers Ada to be an idiot who is incapable of anything.
When her brother Jamie comes home and informs them that the
children of London are being evacuated in anticipation of Hitler’s bombing, Ada
decides that they are both going to leave the city and get away.
When they arrive in Kent along with the rest of the school
children, they are assigned to a woman named Susan Smith. Susan is appalled with the children she is
forced to take in, and even more appalled by the neglect that the children have
endured their entire lives. Grudgingly,
she takes the children in, and the children get a new lease on life.
Freed from the constraints of London, the children thrive.
But what happens when the war intrudes on their new
lives? Will their mother allow them to
continue to live in Kent? Will the
townspeople ever come to accept the transplants from London?
Monday, November 21, 2016
Monday Musings 11/21
The Nest Begins to Fill:
Oldest child is home for the week! He's out and about with friends a lot, but it is very nice to have him joining us for dinner in the evenings and hearing his tales of school and his research. I'm thoroughly enjoying having him home!
Plumbing Woes
So, the stories of angst and woe continue in the home improvement area. The toilet was leaking into the basement. I got a plumber in today. So, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that it can be fixed. The bad news is that the fix would cost more than a brand new toilet, including installation and removal of the old toilet. Even better, this toilet is in the yellow hallway bathroom that I've been wanting to fix for a while now. Sooo.... the plumber fixed it so it won't leak as much. But.... it needs to be fixed sooner rather than later.
Another One Bites the Dust:
Our dishwasher broke last week. In the hopes that it could be repaired, I had the guy come in to fix it this week. After looking at it for 10 minutes, he declared it to be dead. For the cost of repairing the dishwasher, I could buy TWO new dishwashers. *sigh*
Wouldn't you know, this was my "on" weekend at work. I worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (and tonight). Not nearly enough time in the weekend to get out and look at a dishwasher. I think it's fair to say that I won't have one in time for Thanksgiving. I've solved a big part of this problem by ordering the side dishes and pies from the grocery store. I only have to make the turkey and the stuffing. I even bought paper plates - one less thing to clean after dinner!
God Almighty, will this ever end?
Fake News
Are you familiar at all with John Oliver? He did a fantastic piece earlier this year on the press for news outlets to publish stories in a hurry. You can find it if you hashtag Investifart. It's worth watching. I mention this story in the wake of the furor over fake news sites on social media. They thrive on click bait. You click on the stories, they get paid. I've had the question posed to me this week at my reference desk about news stories. Where do I, personally, get my news from? Personally, I have electronic subscriptions to several mainstream outlets, including the Washington Post and the New York Times. I also read NPR (National Public Radio) and the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Between those sources, I get a pretty well rounded look at the world, with enough differing view points that I feel like I've been exposed to all sides of the story. I tend to shy away from network news here in the U.S. Why? Because these "news" programs are a part of the entertainment division. Not the news division - the entertainment division. They are out there strictly to get ratings and rake in commercial dollars. Telling the entire story is not in their best interest.
Just some food for thought....
Oldest child is home for the week! He's out and about with friends a lot, but it is very nice to have him joining us for dinner in the evenings and hearing his tales of school and his research. I'm thoroughly enjoying having him home!
Plumbing Woes
So, the stories of angst and woe continue in the home improvement area. The toilet was leaking into the basement. I got a plumber in today. So, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that it can be fixed. The bad news is that the fix would cost more than a brand new toilet, including installation and removal of the old toilet. Even better, this toilet is in the yellow hallway bathroom that I've been wanting to fix for a while now. Sooo.... the plumber fixed it so it won't leak as much. But.... it needs to be fixed sooner rather than later.
Another One Bites the Dust:
Our dishwasher broke last week. In the hopes that it could be repaired, I had the guy come in to fix it this week. After looking at it for 10 minutes, he declared it to be dead. For the cost of repairing the dishwasher, I could buy TWO new dishwashers. *sigh*
Wouldn't you know, this was my "on" weekend at work. I worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (and tonight). Not nearly enough time in the weekend to get out and look at a dishwasher. I think it's fair to say that I won't have one in time for Thanksgiving. I've solved a big part of this problem by ordering the side dishes and pies from the grocery store. I only have to make the turkey and the stuffing. I even bought paper plates - one less thing to clean after dinner!
God Almighty, will this ever end?
Fake News
Are you familiar at all with John Oliver? He did a fantastic piece earlier this year on the press for news outlets to publish stories in a hurry. You can find it if you hashtag Investifart. It's worth watching. I mention this story in the wake of the furor over fake news sites on social media. They thrive on click bait. You click on the stories, they get paid. I've had the question posed to me this week at my reference desk about news stories. Where do I, personally, get my news from? Personally, I have electronic subscriptions to several mainstream outlets, including the Washington Post and the New York Times. I also read NPR (National Public Radio) and the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Between those sources, I get a pretty well rounded look at the world, with enough differing view points that I feel like I've been exposed to all sides of the story. I tend to shy away from network news here in the U.S. Why? Because these "news" programs are a part of the entertainment division. Not the news division - the entertainment division. They are out there strictly to get ratings and rake in commercial dollars. Telling the entire story is not in their best interest.
Just some food for thought....
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
A is for Manzana
One day while subbing for a Kindergarten Aide, we were in the middle of reading groups. The teacher had a small group, I had a small group, there was a group on the floor listening to stories on tape, and one group with a mother who was going over letters and objects, and then saying the beginning sound. She was pulling items out of a bag, saying the name of the item, and then they would all say the name of the object together.
The mother who was working with that group was a native speaker of Spanish, and her lilting voice had me enchanted as I half listened to her group going through their bag of goodies:
C is for Car /c/
H is for Hat /h/
D is for Dog /d/
A is for Manzana ..... at this point, you heard the teacher yelling across the classroom: "WAIT! Stop!"
The parent sat still for a minute and then started laughing as she realized her mistake, and then started speaking to the kids: "Manzana is how you say Apple in Spanish." Manzana - begins with an "M" /m/, Apple begins with an "A", /a/.
I saw that parent in the grocery store yesterday. Guess what she was buying?
The mother who was working with that group was a native speaker of Spanish, and her lilting voice had me enchanted as I half listened to her group going through their bag of goodies:
C is for Car /c/
H is for Hat /h/
D is for Dog /d/
A is for Manzana ..... at this point, you heard the teacher yelling across the classroom: "WAIT! Stop!"
The parent sat still for a minute and then started laughing as she realized her mistake, and then started speaking to the kids: "Manzana is how you say Apple in Spanish." Manzana - begins with an "M" /m/, Apple begins with an "A", /a/.
I saw that parent in the grocery store yesterday. Guess what she was buying?
Friday, November 11, 2016
The Girl on The Train
This is the book that was made into a movie! It's very similar in title to the book I reviewed last week, "Girl on a Train". Maybe they were both on the same train at some time? Both books are set in England. It could happen!Rachel travels back and forth from London on the train every day. The train stops almost daily at a signal across from a house with a beautiful, perfect couple. While Rachel does not know the names of this perfect couple, she has named them Jess and Jason. Every day she looks at the house and imagines how perfect their lives must be, and creates a fantastic, loving world where they live.
Two doors down from Jess and Jason is the house where Rachel used to live, with her husband Tom. She and Tom broke up two years ago, and he now lives there with the "other" woman and their child.
One day Jess - whose real name is Megan - is found to be missing. Convinced that the real Megan and her husband have the perfect life, Jess begins to dig deeper into their stories in order to discover what really happened to her. The deeper she digs, the more she discovers about just how flawed they are.
Most disturbing of all is that Rachel has hours of time she can't account for on the night that Jess/Megan disappeared. She discovers she was in the neighborhood at the time of Jess/Megan's disappearance, but she herself is incapable of remembering anything through the alcoholic haze.
Can she remember the truth behind that evening before the wrong person is arrested?
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Felt Flowers
Our library branch is making a wreath to donate to Kennedy Krieger's Festival of Trees. All of the money from this event goes to benefit the students at Kennedy Krieger. (It is held annually the weekend after Thanksgiving, and it is a spectacle that I can't describe. Check out the link above, and you'll see what I mean!)
There are a group of us who volunteered to make things for the wreath. We decided that we were going to make a Raven's themed wreath. We've picked up some Raven's swag, but we also decided that we needed to make flowers.
We found this tutorial online to make felt flowers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fEX-uYsd5g
Somehow, something happened along the way, and my flowers turned out a little different than the ones in the video. Mine ended up looking like this:
I think they're beautiful, but they're different than what's in the video!
I made both black and purple flowers. The wreath is currently under construction. I'll share pictures of it when we finish it. It's going to be beautiful!
In the meantime, I've decided that the flowers were beautiful, so I bought some red felt to make red poinsettias. I'm making a couple of wreaths of my own to donate to the church for the bazaar later this month. I think I'll make one with red flowers, and highlight it with some nifty little seasonable baubles. I'm going to make another one that will be purple and black, and filled with my own take on a Raven's wreath.
I've got a little over a week to decorate these wreaths. Do you have any ideas on what to add to help splash these up and add a little glam to them? Suggestions are appreciated!
There are a group of us who volunteered to make things for the wreath. We decided that we were going to make a Raven's themed wreath. We've picked up some Raven's swag, but we also decided that we needed to make flowers.
We found this tutorial online to make felt flowers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fEX-uYsd5g
Somehow, something happened along the way, and my flowers turned out a little different than the ones in the video. Mine ended up looking like this:
I think they're beautiful, but they're different than what's in the video!
I made both black and purple flowers. The wreath is currently under construction. I'll share pictures of it when we finish it. It's going to be beautiful!
In the meantime, I've decided that the flowers were beautiful, so I bought some red felt to make red poinsettias. I'm making a couple of wreaths of my own to donate to the church for the bazaar later this month. I think I'll make one with red flowers, and highlight it with some nifty little seasonable baubles. I'm going to make another one that will be purple and black, and filled with my own take on a Raven's wreath.
I've got a little over a week to decorate these wreaths. Do you have any ideas on what to add to help splash these up and add a little glam to them? Suggestions are appreciated!
Monday, November 7, 2016
Monday Musings 11/7
Thanksgiving Day!
Can you believe Thanksgiving is creeping up on us so fast? We just decided last week that we are going to stay home for Thanksgiving this year. I'm looking forward to spending the day with family, going out for a long walk before dinner, and maybe even playing a little frisbee together! As far as we know, we don't have any family coming over to share Thanksgiving dinner with us, so it's just going to be the five of us, hanging out together. I've started looking through recipes, attempting to figure out what we're going to eat. If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that one of the trueisms of my life is that "it's not a holiday until something catches fire". I guess the question at this point is, what's going to catch fire and when?
Voting Day
Voting day in the United States is tomorrow. If you have not yet voted, please take the time to research your candidates and then get out to vote. Remember, there is so much more than just the president up for vote. Senators and Representatives are up for election, as are many local offices.
Cylburn Arboretum
Daughter and I roamed through the arboretum last week, hoping to find some fall foliage. Bad news for us - the leaves in the city had not yet started to change. We roamed around anyway, enjoying the beautiful afternoon and the paths through the arboretum. This picture is from one of my favorite spots! It's gorgeous! Over the years, I've seen many, many wedding shoots in this gazebo, and around this beautiful tree!
A Little More Canada
As I was going through pictures this morning, this one especially stood out to me. It's from Byward Market - the amazing open air market in Ontario - not all that far removed from the Parliament Buildings. I don't know if the farmers are still outdoors when the weather gets cold, but it was up and running every day we were there. We were two very fortunate travelers, as we were able to pick up fresh fruits and veggies every day to supplement what we were picking up in restaurants. It also forced a slight change of pace for us - we couldn't find grocery stores close by, so we had to get used to the change of pace of NOT having prepared foods everywhere we searched. I wish we had something like this in the little town where I lived. Yes, we have farmers markets, but they're only around once a week, and only for a very limited time - from Memorial Day to Labor Day. 
Do you see this little squirrel here? How come they're so dark in Canada? Here in Maryland, our squirrels are light brown and dark gray. Do they just get darker as you go further north? I thought all squirrels were the same everywhere? They're beautiful little squirrels! And they are everywhere! Not only did we see these black squirrels in Ottawa, we saw them around Niagara Falls this summer.
Gourds!
One last picture to see you on your way! This display of gourds was out at our farm stand this week. I adore these guys!
Have a great week!
Friday, November 4, 2016
Book Review: Girl on a Train
This is the fantastic, fabulous book that I thought had been made into a movie. (And it should be made into a movie!) While it is not that book, this edge of your seat thriller will grab you by your imagination within the first two chapters and not let you go until the heart stopping finale. It's a mystery. It's a thriller. There's some self-discovery, and much needed closure. Ye Gods, the more I read this book, the deeper I was pulled into this world.... and the ending... Who would have seen that ending? I was not expecting this book to end in this way! Anna Rothman is a journalist traveling home from a holiday on the train. The only seat open is next to a young woman. A woman who speaks with her briefly before leaving the train - and then jumps in front of that train as it pulled out of the station.
Anna's husband had committed suicide, and something about this young girl, and the way she looked at her as she exited the train told her that this was not a suicide. This was something else. Something sinister and deadly. Try as she might to put this behind her, Anna finds herself drawn into the world of this young girl who was named Ellie. The more she discovers about Ellie, she is shocked to realize that not only do they have much in common - their lives had crossed paths - and finding the truth of Ellie's story becomes more than just a casual fascination as the same phantom forces that had chased Ellie begin pursuing her.
Can Anna bring closure to her own painful past by finding the answers to Ellie's story?
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
2016 Resolutions
Fall has finally arrived in the Mid-Atlantic! It's gorgeous! I love walking on a trail with the leaves crunching underfoot and the beautiful colors overhead! It's been so warm this month, I was beginning to think fall might not ever actually come!
2016 Resolutions
1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
Silly girl. Third year in a row this has been on my list. I'm still not certain this is going to happen this year. Our kitchen became a priority this year, and now that we've started it, we need to finish the final touches so that it's not coming back to haunt me in a couple of years!
Middle child has informed us that he's hoping to move back in with us when he graduates in May, and to stay with us until he builds up a decent down payment for a house. So, fixing up this bathroom now has a target date: APRIL 2017. We'll have to work within the confines of the budget of whatever we have saved up to that point in time come March.
2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system. This led me to three separate categories:
a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for the year was to lose a total of three inches. That took longer than I thought it would! Eight months to lose three inches. I'm happy to see those inches come off! For now, I am content. Those were 3 very hard inches to lose!
b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!! 120/60! No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!
c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.
At least one. The hard work of the last year has paid off! I bought pants in the regular section of the store!!!! Even better? No elastic waist on these babies! I want to lose more. My waist is still not under the "circumference" guidelines that suggest that women should have a waist measurement less than 35 inches. Trust me, I'm working on getting that measurement down there!
3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
Due to a very wet spring and a hideous ant problem, no vegetable garden got up and going this year. I really need to spend some serious time thinking about this for next year.
4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove. Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough. This one will be a wash. Another epic fail. If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.
5) Daughter's Quilt
I have pieced it together! It's sewn! I'll be pinning the layers together next week. I want to get it finished before she finishes up at the Community College and transfers on to a 4 year school.
6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day. Thanks guys!
Even more fun, my husband made this wonderful tool corral last month! It's so nice to have everything organized and no longer piled up on the floor, next to the house. It was a dangerous tripping hazard that had snared us all at least once.
Bonus - there's enough space in that protected area in front of the tool caddy to put in the buckets full of rock salt for the winter!
7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week. Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy
journal with me when I go. I get to visibly see my progress every time I work out. It's an excellent motivator!
8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month. Then I changed it to 23 things a week. For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year. I met that goal in May.
I didn't get rid of anything extra this month. But, the White Elephant sale is coming up at church later this month. I'm putting together boxes of stuff to donate now! It's a wild feeling to walk down to the basement and be able to see across a room without looking at boxes of "stuff" every which where.
9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March. It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate. I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia. Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016: 1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal. 1 crown for said tooth. The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink, and NOW a major leak in the basement from the upstairs bathroom. You know, that bathroom that I have on my list to remodel? This is honestly beginning to sound like the "12 Days of Christmas".
10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Niagara Falls! We spent time on both the Canadian and U.S. side of the Falls. I loved Niagara State Park. If you ever have time to go, make a point of heading to the state park and walking the perimeter trail around the island. It is absolutely gorgeous!
12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up. I know I had years that I didn't do this. I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished. These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
There's nothing like the feeling of being caught up! I'd like to say I won't fall behind again, but realistically, we all fall behind with things. It's going to happen again. It's good to know that it's possible to catch back up, though!
13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails
Does the Rideau Canal in Ontario count? I don't think it's an official
Rail Trail, but it is alongside a canal, and at one time, there were
rail tracks nearby. It's officially a World Heritage site, so I'm going
to add it. We hiked a good 10 miles of it while we were in Ottawa!
Such a beautiful place!
1) NCR Rail Trail
2) Rideau Canal
How am I going to get those other 4 trails in before the end of the year?
14) Pay offthe big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone. It's nice to have one monkey off my back!
The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated. My goal was to have this paid off by December, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.
15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before. For me, this is my online recipe book. Some of the recipes are my own. Some, I post direct links to other sites. You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too. He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious. (Hey Kiddo! Glad you stopped by for a while! Call your mother sometime. She'd really like to hear from you!)
How are you doing on your goals this year?
2016 Resolutions
1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
Silly girl. Third year in a row this has been on my list. I'm still not certain this is going to happen this year. Our kitchen became a priority this year, and now that we've started it, we need to finish the final touches so that it's not coming back to haunt me in a couple of years!
Middle child has informed us that he's hoping to move back in with us when he graduates in May, and to stay with us until he builds up a decent down payment for a house. So, fixing up this bathroom now has a target date: APRIL 2017. We'll have to work within the confines of the budget of whatever we have saved up to that point in time come March.
2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system. This led me to three separate categories:
My goal for the year was to lose a total of three inches. That took longer than I thought it would! Eight months to lose three inches. I'm happy to see those inches come off! For now, I am content. Those were 3 very hard inches to lose!
YES!! 120/60! No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!
c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.
At least one. The hard work of the last year has paid off! I bought pants in the regular section of the store!!!! Even better? No elastic waist on these babies! I want to lose more. My waist is still not under the "circumference" guidelines that suggest that women should have a waist measurement less than 35 inches. Trust me, I'm working on getting that measurement down there!
3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
Due to a very wet spring and a hideous ant problem, no vegetable garden got up and going this year. I really need to spend some serious time thinking about this for next year.
4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove. Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough. This one will be a wash. Another epic fail. If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.
5) Daughter's Quilt
I have pieced it together! It's sewn! I'll be pinning the layers together next week. I want to get it finished before she finishes up at the Community College and transfers on to a 4 year school.
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day. Thanks guys!
Even more fun, my husband made this wonderful tool corral last month! It's so nice to have everything organized and no longer piled up on the floor, next to the house. It was a dangerous tripping hazard that had snared us all at least once.
Bonus - there's enough space in that protected area in front of the tool caddy to put in the buckets full of rock salt for the winter!
4 or 5 days every week. Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy
journal with me when I go. I get to visibly see my progress every time I work out. It's an excellent motivator!Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month. Then I changed it to 23 things a week. For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year. I met that goal in May.
I didn't get rid of anything extra this month. But, the White Elephant sale is coming up at church later this month. I'm putting together boxes of stuff to donate now! It's a wild feeling to walk down to the basement and be able to see across a room without looking at boxes of "stuff" every which where.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March. It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate. I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia. Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016: 1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal. 1 crown for said tooth. The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink, and NOW a major leak in the basement from the upstairs bathroom. You know, that bathroom that I have on my list to remodel? This is honestly beginning to sound like the "12 Days of Christmas".
Niagara Falls! We spent time on both the Canadian and U.S. side of the Falls. I loved Niagara State Park. If you ever have time to go, make a point of heading to the state park and walking the perimeter trail around the island. It is absolutely gorgeous!
I need to catch up. I know I had years that I didn't do this. I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished. These are the years I am in search of:
2009
There's nothing like the feeling of being caught up! I'd like to say I won't fall behind again, but realistically, we all fall behind with things. It's going to happen again. It's good to know that it's possible to catch back up, though!
13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails
Does the Rideau Canal in Ontario count? I don't think it's an official
Rail Trail, but it is alongside a canal, and at one time, there were
rail tracks nearby. It's officially a World Heritage site, so I'm going
to add it. We hiked a good 10 miles of it while we were in Ottawa!
Such a beautiful place!2) Rideau Canal
How am I going to get those other 4 trails in before the end of the year?
14) Pay off
The big debt is gone. It's nice to have one monkey off my back!
The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated. My goal was to have this paid off by December, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before. For me, this is my online recipe book. Some of the recipes are my own. Some, I post direct links to other sites. You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too. He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious. (Hey Kiddo! Glad you stopped by for a while! Call your mother sometime. She'd really like to hear from you!)
How are you doing on your goals this year?
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