Helpful Holiday Hint

I know I have not been keeping up with my helpful hint's but I am going to try to get back in the groove.

When I was working on cleaning up my grandmother's sliver ware, I came across this tip from Martha Stewart's Real Simple web site.

I have posted the link to the video and step-by-step instructions that shows how to clean silverware with some aluminum foil, boiling water, baking soda and salt. (Even MacGyver would be proud).


Shine Away

Why did the Turkey Cross the Road.....

As I stood there in our kitchen cursing at the butter because I could not beat it into submission so I could cut cute little leaf shapes into it, I really began to hate Thanksgiving.

I had spent the morning ironing (which I absolutely hate doing) the tablecloth and napkins, hand washing our good china so we could use it for the first time, surfing the Internet on how to "un-tarnish" my grandmother's silverware and trying to explain to a very zealous cat that cutlery is not for kittens.

Everything was going well, until I could not get those leaf shapes into the butter. It was at this point I knew I had given into the "holiday perfection demon."

This demon (who in my mind looks a little like the Weight Watcher's Hungry Monster but a little more evil) always pays me a visit at this time of year. He likes to remind me that everything needs to be absolutely perfect. That because it is a holiday, things need to be more special.

This is the same creature that can reduce me into a melting mass of emotion because I cannot make the perfect bow for our Christmas wreath. It is also the same being that drives me to find the perfect gift, have it be on sale and wrapped perfect with sharp, crisp edges.

But, as I stood there with the butter-covered rolling pin in my hand, instead of smashing the butter, I decided to smash away my holiday demon.

So what if there is one little wrinkle in the tablecloth? So what if we have to eat butter off of one of our everyday dishes that do not match our china? So what if there is one little speck of tarnish at the base of a piece of the silverware?

Once I had shipped off my holiday menace, something happened: I really started to see the real meaning behind Thanksgiving.

I know it is so cliche and sounds like an after school or Charlie Brown television special but it is true.

There are so many times that I look at my faults and what I do not have, that I miss all that I am truly blessed to have.

So in the spirit of the holiday, I have decided to make a "Thankful List" (in no particular order).

* I am thankful for my family and friends who continue to support and love me.

*I am thankful for my wonderful husband who has been by my side for 10 years.

* I am thankful for having God in my life. I know there are bad times, but there will also be good times and He will not give me anything I cannot handle.

*I am thankful for my freedom. This is becoming more and more of a thing to be thankful for considering the state of the world today.

*I am thankful to have a roof over my head, food on the table and clothes in my closet. Everyday I take for granted the most simple and basic needs that are met each day.

* I am thankful for our two cats. They have provided us with so much joy and happiness, with just a touch of anxiety to keep things interesting.


I don't want to get "preachy" but this Thanksgiving, instead of fighting over the turkey drumstick, or complaining about your grandmother asking you when you are going to get married or have a baby, just take a deep breath and count your blessings.

I wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving full of good food, fellowship and many fond memories.

I know things will never be the same

Well, this month both mine and Kevin's world changed forever. Nothing bad happened (praise the Lord), actually something really good happened.

We added another little ball of fur into our home!

For awhile now we had been wanting to get our current cat, Anastasia, a friend to play with.

She would play with us for awhile, but then she would still walk around the house meowing, would run from window to window if she saw one of the neigborhood's outdoor cats running around.

So last Monday, Kev and I went back to the WONDERFUL shelter that we addopted Anna from, which is Fayette Friends of Animals.

We looked around at all of the different cats, including a Tortie who was in love with Kev and wanted constant petting, a sweet little Calico that keep smooshing his face on both Kev's feet and my legs, but I had decided that one Calico was all that we could handle since they are notoriously known for being a little kooky.

When we went into the second room a sweet little long haired grey cat, named Brino came up to us. On a little side note, the little guy was named Brino because they had thought he was a girl and decided to call him Sabrina, but when he went to go have his "guy parts edited" they found out he was a boy and changed his name to Brino.

Anyway, when Kev picked him up he started purring like a beautiful classic car and we decided he was the one.

When we went to put in our adoption application for him, a different girl told us that someone had already put in an application for him, but they were still waiting to hear from their landlord, so still turn one in for him.

I was really heartbroken because I really felt like he was going to be the perfect cat for our Anna.

The following day, Thursday, I received a phone call from the shelter saying he was ours because it had been over 20 since the people turned in their application and they were still waiting for the Landlord's phone number.

We made arrangements to pick him up.

But, before we did, I wanted to do some research on how to introduce the new cat to the current cat. This was a very big mistake!

A lot of Web Sites said to introduce the two cats through the pet taxi, then put the new cat in one room and shut the door and put the current cat in a room and shut the door. Then bring out the new cat and let him sniff around. Put him back in his room and bring out the current cat and let him sniff around. Then exchange blankets that they have been laying on so they can get each others scent. The web site also said that this could take up to three or four weeks before you can let them run around the house comfortably. This is when I started to panic!

I do not have the patience or the time to do this for three or four weeks. I thought it would be, put the new cat in a room, slap a baby gate on the door and let Anna look at him through the gate for a while and then remove the gate.

So, we decided to go with our original plan, and went to Target (or Tar-jay) to purchase a baby gate, I know my mother was thrilled to have something associated with babies finally in our house, and we put the new cat in our office and let him out.

After about an hour, we removed the baby gate and let nature take its course.

There was some sniffing, some little grunting noises, but around an hour later, Finnegin, that is what we decided to call the new cat, and Anna were tearing around the house playing with each other.

It is easy to see that Finnegin adores Anna. He follows her around, and when he has a hard time keeping up with her, because he has little legs, she will turn around and wait for him to catch up.

They love having "epic battles" on the cat tree and behind the pillows on our bed. (It has gotten so bad that I am changing out our comforter so they don not snag it any more than it already has been.)

I am so happy the two of them are enjoying each other, and I am so glad we brought Finnegin home. There is just a little part of me that hopes that Anna still needs me a little.

You want how much for that?!

As the summer begins to fade, I always find myself a little sad. It is not because I despise fall. Actually, I love fall and the month of October. It is because I know what happens after fall that makes me depressed and wanting to latch on to the lazy summer August days.

But, as the Bible and the Byrds say, "To every season, turn, turn, turn."

So in honor of Halloween things being out at the Dollar Store, and the end of the Fayette County Fair in sight, I thought I would start looking at Halloween costumes. (Plus there was an ad on Facebook that I decided to click.)

Like I said, I love October and Halloween, and I do enjoy dressing up for the holiday. But, in the past I have been very disappointed with the selection of costumes for women.

I had hoped against hope, that maybe this year would be different. That the costume manufactures, who are obviously men, would wake up and realize that not everyone out there wants to go around parading themselves looking like tarts. But, alas, it is not only just as bad this year, but even worse.

Any of you who have been to a costume store in the past 10 years, knows exactly the kinds of costumes out there. The costumes that are available out there have a time and place, but going to a Halloween party should not be one of those places.

So in order for me to completely express my disgust I thought I would post a few examples:

This little number which is called "Adult Hermione Costume" would be perfect if you are taking your kids trick-or-treating, or if you are having a children's Halloween party. Not only would you be a hit with the kids, but with the dads as well.

Now, I have read the Harry Potter books, and I do not quite remember Hermione wearing any thing like this.

This cute little number can be yours for $47.50.













I do not know why costume manufactures insist on taking beloved childhood characters and making them "sexy."

This is the issue I have with "Sexy Willy Wonka." I grew up watching Willy Wonka. My poor grandmother had to endure the movie as it was aways in the VCR on repeat when I was growing up.

Once again, a big hit with the kiddies.

What a steal for only, $57.95!










Zeus' beard, what is this thing?! Oh wait, the name says "Honey Bee." I don't know what kind of bee this is supposed to be. Pom-Poms and fuzzy legwarmers do not make a bee. And just because, it is black and gold does not mean it is a bee. It could also be "Sexy Steeler Fan."

The only group I think who would remotely dig this outfit, would be fan-boys.

This monstrosity can be yours for just $78.95. But, if you want the leg warmers it is an additional $49.95.










Those were just a few tame examples. (Believe me there are costumes out there that are a lot worse.)

I guess what kills me the most, is the price. Here, this costume made from dental floss, post-it notes and Bubble Tape will run you about $100, but the Bubble Tape is sold separately.

In a world where so many women have body image issues, it also seems masochistic to walk into a costume shop and see that really your only option is to either make your own costume or buy the t-shirt that says "This is my costume."

What are we teaching teen girls? That it is OK to parade around in almost nothing, and that it is OK to do it once a year at Halloween, and that is your only real option.

I am sorry, but I do not buy into this, and I refuse to spend a penny on any of this garbage.

So I will continue my search, or dust off my sewing machine and come up with my own options.

Behind the Veil

So I am pretty excited that we are 95% sure we are going to be going to Disney this year!

After we had bought the house, and sunk a lot of money into it, we thought that we wouldn't be able to go back this year. But, because our kitchen was cheaper than we thought it was going to be, and Kev had some updates at work, and because life is short, we have decided to go.

There is also a possibility that my parents might be coming with us, which would be a lot of fun since they haven't been there in about 13 years.

In order to save some money, we decided to stay at a value resort. When I was younger we stayed at the Disney Villas (which aren't there anymore) and The Caribean Beach Resort. For our honeymoon we stayed at Animal Kingdom, and last year we stayed at Coronado Springs Resort. So we had never stayed at a value resort before.

I keep on going back between All-Star Music and Pop Century. I like the theme of Music, but I keep on hearing about how Pop is quieter.

Since I am between the two hotels, I decided to do a lot of research on the internet to see what other people thought about the two.

As I was looking through an older Unofficial Disney guide at the resort maps, I saw a whole section of Pop Century called the legendary years. This featured the 1900-1940s. I thought this would be awesome! I love those decades and I am sure the themeing would be awesome!

So I set to the internet and tried to find more information about this, but when I looked at Disney's site, I couldn't find any info.

When I googled "the legendary years," I found some interesting info.

Here is a photo I found on a message board:

This is one of the buildings that is supposed to be the in Legendary Section. What had happened, apprently, was that disney started to build the whole Pop Century resort and then 9/11 happened. The Disney corporation thought that visits to the park would decline significantly, and they decided to put a hold on the project.

Once the other side of Pop Century (The Classic Years) was completed, this other side has laid derelict and creepy. The rooms are not finished, the plumbing is even rusting. There are no stairswells to get to the upper floors, and the railings are only pieces of 2x4s put in place to keep workers from falling over the edge.

Here is a photo of the lobby building of the Legenday Years that I got from the same person, CanadianGuy on the DisBoards.




In order to get the full experience of how creepy it really is, watch this video that a brave person, DisneyProjectTracker:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSc1fG0E

What I find hard to believe that Disney would just let this "mess" stay standing and not do anything with it. It just doesn't seem the "Disney-way" to have these structures still standing. Those who stay at Pop Century have to look at this, and it takes away from the magic.

So after seeing all of this, I thought, "Well, the mouse must have plans for this." So I read they they are going to raize the buildings, and put in some family suites and name it "Animator's Inn." I am not sure what it entails, but it should be interesting.

I am not on Etsy

After finally waiting and saying that I was going to do it, I finally did it. I became a seller on etsy!

So excited! So check out the few things I have listed. I hope to add to this list very soon.

It's a start!

How to Beat the Summer Heat

It is hard to believe that Memorial Day has already come and gone. It seems like only yesterday I was complaining about how much I hated the months of January, February and March and couldn't wait for the Summer to be here.

As the temperature rises, I can't hold back the childlike glee that is inside that looks forward to the extended hours of daylight, warm breezes cruising on by and especially the thought of little day trips here and there. But, as I continue to read about the recession, and see that all of our extra money is being poured into our new home, I start to feel a little sadness about summer 2009.

Ever since I have been born, I have been going to Kennywood each summer. (It comes with the territory when your father worked there for many years when he was in high school.) I couldn't wait to ride the first ride of the season, and inhale the sweet smells of motor oil and Potato Patch Fries. We would go at least once, maybe even twice a season.

So in my anticipation of our annual trip, I decided to visit Kennywood's website and see what new things they have in store. As I was surfing around I saw how much tickets are this year: $33.99. What the heck! Did they mysteriously double the amount of rides and attractions so that it would justify charging this much? As I scrolled over the rides and shows section of the website, I saw that only one new ride was added to replace one that they had taken out last year.

Now for the sake of doing easy math let's just say that tickets cost $34. For my husband and I to go it would cost $68 for tickets. Parking would be about $15 so now we are up to $83 before we even enter the park. Well if you expect to get some of those tasty fries and a drink for two people it will cost about $30 which will now make it $113. I always like to take my chances and play a few games (the ping pong pool and I are still at war) you can easily spend another $30. So for a couple to go to Kennywood, park, eat and play a few games it will cost you $143! I won't even figure out the cost for a family of four! And Kennywood has some nerve calling themselves a great American amusement park.

So unless we get free tickets to Kennywood, which might happen, we will not be going this year. So will end another Summer tradition.

Another thing I like to do in the Summer is maybe go to a concert. Well, I do have to say that no one that I really want to see will be traveling to our area. Kev has threatened to take me to see Bob Dylan in Washington, PA. I told him that Simon and Garfunkle was about as mellow as I can handle, and I don't think that I can sit through listening to a man who sounds like he has a box or rocks in his mouth.

But, what I am most sad about, and it is going to completely make me sound like a spoiled brat, is that we will not be able to make it to Disney World this year.

Since our honeymoon, we have decided to try and make it to Disney each year around our anniversary. If we would save up money during the year, and make a few cutbacks we could do it. But, since we bought the house and have to make renovations, we aren't going to be going this year. But, to help "ease our pain" my parents have offered to take us on their vacation this year to wonderful Branson, Mo! Yes, you heard right. The playground for senior citizens. The land of early bird specials, Tony Orlando and hip replacements! I think I might have to make a separate entry about the wonders of Branson.

But, as we do approach the Summer, I do take comfort that we will find ways to make it fun, and little trips to make it exciting.

Hey, anything beats sub-zero degree temperature!