April 21, 2008

This past Friday we went to the park. I remembered to take the camera this time and got a few shots while we were out basking in the sun.

We did see a bunny but didn't get a picture of it.

Added some new photos to the Flickr Photo Album 2.

April 11, 2008

Our frequent visitor:

This kitty shows up on our back patio just about every afternoon to hide under the flower pots and stalk the birds and squirrels. It's a very pretty little kitty, but not very friendly. It won't let me get too close, even though it must be a pet because it has a collar.

Here's an updated picture of the pansies on our front porch. They have really gone through a crazy growth spurt.

I went out to eat lunch with two of the other secretaries at work and the dean of our department. One of the secretaries was our campus Employee of the Month and this was her mini-celebratory lunch. In the course of the lunchtime conversation I learned that our dean grew up in Kinston and not only knows where Grifton is, but has actually been to the Shad Festival! HA! Small world. And, her dad worked at Dupont. My grandpa and mom probably knew him.

April 11, 2008

Our frequent visitor:

This kitty shows up on our back patio just about every afternoon to hide under the flower pots and stalk the birds and squirrels. It's a very pretty little kitty, but not very friendly. It won't let me get too close, even though it must be a pet because it has a collar.

Here's an updated picture of the pansies on our front porch. They have really gone through a crazy growth spurt.

I went out to eat lunch with two of the other secretaries at work and the dean of our department. One of the secretaries was our campus Employee of the Month and this was her mini-celebratory lunch. In the course of the lunchtime conversation I learned that our dean grew up in Kinston and not only knows where Grifton is, but has actually been to the Shad Festival! HA! Small world. And, her dad worked at Dupont. My grandpa and mom probably knew him.

April 10, 2008

With Jamie at work during the time I'm at home, I get really bored and lazy. I flip through the channels a gazillion times and snack on just about anything I can find in the kitchen. Needless to say, I've put on one or two (or 15) pounds. I can't say for certain because we don't have a scale, but I know I'm a lot more giggly and blubbery than I was six months ago.

I'm horrible at exercise though and have tons of excuses for not wanting to go out for a walk. First of all, this is the worst city for side walks. There aren't many and the ones that do exist aren't very long stretches. Plus, we live in the very hilly part of NC so there aren't many flat places to walk. And, ever since I started my new job, my knees have been swollen a lot. I have no idea why. I think maybe they have a weight limit and I've gone over that limit. The last time I had knee problems I weighed 225. That was back in high school. Ever since then I've weighed around 200. I've probably inched up closer to that 225 mark than I've been for 10 years. (Wow...high school knee problems were about 10 years ago. I'm old!)

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a cardio workout DVD at Target. Their selection wasn't all that great and I picked the only stand-in-place-and-do-something video that didn't look like it involved a lot of hopping around and doing complicated dance moves. It's a pretty good video and the only section I don't do is the kick boxing section because it involves...well...kicking. However, it's a bit too fast paced for where I am right now and I really hate looking at the uber skinny and toned girls doing the workout. Bah!

I did discover the other day that we get Exercise TV on demand and that the programs are FREE. It has lots of short programs under lots of categories (dance, cardio, yoga, etc). Last night I stumbled on one called "Family Walk". For about 20 minutes you just walk in place doing four different little easy moves. The folks in the video ranged in age from about 6 to about 60. It was great! Today I did another walking program with the same four moves from the same lady who coached the Family Walk, but she coached by herself.

Walking at home in the living room is GREAT! I can have a glass of water near by. I don't have to worry about getting run over by a car. I don't worry about the wind blowing my hair in my face. I don't have to wear shoes or a bra! I can do it in my pajamas! Doesn't get much better than that.

Hopefully I can ditch a few pounds and my knees will quite being sore and swollen.

Update: I added a picture of my grandma's NASCAR box to the NASCAR section of Stylishly Crafty.

Oh, and for lunch today, I enjoyed a wonderfully loaded hot dog (chili, slaw, mustard, ketchup, relish) with ranch doritos, an oogey gooey chocolatey brownie, and an icy lemonade in the shade of the garden on campus. It was awesome!

April 7, 2008

Quick update: Got pictures of the NASCAR boxes I made for my mom and Aunt Gloria. They're in the NASCAR section of Stylishly Crafty.

April 5, 2008

Home alone and bored tonight. So I learned how to use the delay function on the camera and finally took pictures of my Scarlett O'Hara (aka it's made out of curtains) renaissance gown.

I realize now that I probably should have moved the chair with my violin on it and the bike out of the way before I took the pictures. Oh well!

April 3, 2008 (Yes, two posts in two days!)

Why we love Costco:

5 shoulder steaks = $15.10

2 chuck roasts = $12.59

5.15 lbs lean hamburger = $12.82

15 frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts = $15.39

Total spent on meat = $55.90

Each of the chicken breasts and shoulder steaks will feed both of us for one meal. I figure we can get two meals each out of both of the chuck roasts. I cooked the hamburger this afternoon and separated it out into 6 quart sized bags for freezing. Each of those will feed both of us for one meal.

That's meat for roughly 50 meals between the two of us (or 25 days worth of meals) for about $1.11 for meat each meal. If you can afford to spend $50 on meat in one trip, it's well worth the savings in the end. The last time we bought a pot roast at the grocery store we paid nearly $10 for just one. Pretty good deal to get a second for only $2 more, and they were both very nicely sized.

We probably won't have to buy meat for at least another month and a half since I don't cook a full meal on the nights that Jamie works. Pretty sweet!

Oh, we also bought a roast chicken (like always) to nibble on. Costco's roast chicken is SO GOOD! We ate some of it yesterday with white rice and Mr. Yoshida's Teryaki sauce. Mmmmmmm. Tasty.

Website update: I added descriptions to the Jewelry page of Stylishly Crafty. The page looked so empty with just photos. I added an update to the Story of Us too.